Maude Barlow, National Chairperson of the Council of Canadians, delivered the address at the June 10 Convocation ceremonies for Loyalist College graduates of the Schools of Bioscience and Human Studies.
A founding member of the 65,000 member Council of Canadians, Ms. Barlow has served as its voluntary Chair since 1988. She is also Chair, Board of Food and Water Watch (U.S.) and a founding member of Friends of the Right to Water, a North-South Coalition seeking a UN Convention on the Right to Water.
Ms. Barlow is an acknowledged global leader in the international water justice movement and in her address to the convocation audience, she urged graduates to give some of their precious life energy to the great environmental challenges that face the world today. “We who are blessed to live in a water wealthy country have a special responsibility to find solutions to this global crisis and as well, to be good stewards of our own precious water resources by protecting our watersheds, wetlands and aquifers and ensuring safe, clean drinking water as a public trust and a human right. There is much work to be done,” she emphasized. “Every generation has the right to breathe clean air and drink clean water.”
Ms. Barlow, who was one of the “1000 Women for Peace” nominated for the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize, was presented with an honorary diploma by Stuart Wright, Chair of the Loyalist College Board of Governors.
The event was the third of four Convocation ceremonies at the College on June 9 and 10. A total of 2,131 graduates were honoured at the 44th Convocation this week.
Stuart Wright, Chair of the Board of Governors presented Maude Barlow with an Honorary Diploma
Media Contact: Dianne Spencer, Executive Director, College Advancement & External Relations, Loyalist College, (613) 969-1913, ext. 2235; dspencer@loyalistc.on.ca