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Articles by Sara Ehrhardt

Sara Ehrhardt is the national water campaigner of the Council of Canadians, working with community activists to fight water commodification and privatization. Sara has worked in environmental consulting, led a construction project in the Guyanese rainforest, taught indigenous children in Mexico, and volunteered with numerous international development, environmental, and social-justice organizations. In 2002, Sara was the first recipient of the Canadian Council of Professional Engineers National Gold Medal Student Award for volunteerism and leadership, and she has been selected as one of 20 outstanding young Canadians through the Action Canada Program.

Featured Article

Everyone knows that water is the stuff of life. But is it best viewed as a commodity or as part of the commons? Should providing safe, affordable water be the role of governments, corporations, or partnerships between the two? On Tuesday, July 13 (dates may vary for local stations), the PBS show P.O.V. is airing “Thirst,” a documentary by Alan Snitow and Deborah Kaufman that addresses these and other issues about water privatization. In partnership with P.O.V., Grist is hosting a week-long debate on the merits of water privatization between Peter Cook, executive director of the National Association of Water Companies, and Maude Barlow and Sara Ehrhardt, anti-privatization activists with the Council of Canadians.

Dear Peter,

We would like to begin by thanking you for your comments. While we, too, would like to work toward solutions to address the water challenges that we face, we simply cannot accept the “water customer” approach that you have presented throughout this discussion. This approach presents water as an economic resource to be managed by market forces, and fails to acknowledge water as a shared social and environmental resource ... Read more

All Articles

  • A debate on water privatization, part four

    Everyone knows that water is the stuff of life. But is it best viewed as a commodity or as part of the commons? Should providing safe, affordable water be the role of governments, corporations, or partnerships between the two? On Tuesday, July 13 (dates may vary for local stations), the PBS show P.O.V. is airing […]

  • A debate on water privatization, part two

    Everyone knows that water is the stuff of life. But is it best viewed as a commodity or as part of the commons? Should providing safe, affordable water be the role of governments, corporations, or partnerships between the two? On Tuesday, July 13 (dates may vary for local stations), the PBS show P.O.V. is airing […]