By Richard Girard, Executive Director and Erin Callary, Researcher of the Polaris Institute (Reviewed by Satoko Kishimoto, Coordinator of the Water Justice Project of the Transnational Institute (TNI).)

In 1997, the merger of French corporations Compagnie Financière de Suez and Lyonnaise des Eaux created the energy, waste and water infrastructure company Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux. In 2008, after years of mergers, acquisitions and corporate realignment, the company – which by then was known simply as ‘Suez’ – was split into two separate entities: GDF SUEZ and Suez Environnement. This split was the result of Suez’s decision to merge with Gaz de France to create the energy multinational GDF Suez. 

Pour diffusion immédiate

2 juin, territoire algonquin (Ottawa) – Un nouveau rapport de l’institut Polaris dresse un portrait inquiétant des pratiques et activités passées de l’entreprise canadienne TransCanada. Le rapport intitulé Rompre avec l’économie des énergies sales : Un profil de la compagnie canadienne de pipelines TransCanada décortique l’entreprise  morceau par morceau afin d’examiner de manière critique son historique économique, politique, social et environnemental. Le rapport dévoile et rassemble de l’information importante que les communautés en contact avec TransCanada devraient connaître.

For Immediate Release

June 2, Algonquin Territory (Ottawa)– TransCanada’s underbelly is exposed in a new report by the Polaris Institute that paints a troubling picture of the company’s track record. The report entitled Unplugging the Dirty Energy Economy: A Corporate Profile of Canadian Pipeline Company TransCanada, dissects the company piece by piece in order to critically examine its economic, political, social and environmental track record and provides valuable information that communities in contact with TransCanada should be aware of.

Beware the Bitumen Cliff!

by TONY CLARKE, article originally appeared in Canadian Dimensions

It’s a “no brainer,” declares Stephen Harper. The Keystone pipeline must be built now to bring crude oil from the Alberta tar sands to refineries and markets in the US. By the same token, the Northern Gateway and/or the Kinder Morgan pipelines must be constructed to bring tar sands crude to Asian markets. So too, the reversal of Line 9 coupled with the building of the Energy East pipeline must be completed to bring an end to the dependence of Québec and the Atlantic provinces on Middle East oil, while opening up new markets in Northeast US states. Indeed, the pipeline battle lines are already being drawn up for the 2015 general election.

By Pablo Solon, co-authored with Josie Riffaud and Tony Clarke

On Sunday, hundreds of thousands gathered in New York for one of the biggest marches against climate change. The occasion is the Climate Summit convened by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the theme of which is "take action." But does that action actually include measures that could do further harm to the planet?

By Richard Girard

On April 24, 2013, an eight-storey building known as Rana Plaza collapsed in Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing more than 1,100 garment workers and injuring thousands of others. The victims, mostly women, worked in factories owned by a number of companies (New Wave Bottoms, Phantom, Ether Tex) that make clothing for high-profile retailers, including Walmart, Loblaw, Benetton, Bonmarché, the Children's Place, El Corte Inglés, Mango, Matalan and Primark. In response to the collapse, survivors and outraged Bangladeshis, and global civil society and labour groups, among many others, demanded justice for the killed garment workers.

(Originally posted on Rabble.ca)

By Daniel Cayley-Daoust

Water and wastewater services have long been considered an essential public service in Canada. With few exceptions, these services have remained under the explicit management and ownership of municipal governments. The federal government, however, wants to allow the private sector to operate new water and wastewater facilities in the form of private-public partnerships (P3s). The priorities set out for the 2012 and 2013 application process of Public-Private Partnerships Canada (PPP Canada) and a water and wastewater sector study published on the crown corporation's website confirms the interest of the federal government in the P3 model for the water services industry.