Maude Barlow

Maude Victoria Barlow (born May 24, 1947) is a Canadian author and activist. She is a founding member and former board chair of The Council of Canadians, a citizens' advocacy organization. She is also the co-founder of the Blue Planet Project, which works internationally for the human right to water. Barlow chairs the board of Washington-based Food & Water Watch, serves on the board of advisors to the Global Alliance on the Rights of Nature, was a founding member of the San Francisco–based International Forum on Globalization, and was a councillor with the Hamburg-based World Future Council. She was the chancellor of Brescia University College at Western University for three years starting in 2020. In 2008/2009, she was Senior Advisor on Water to the 63rd President of the United Nations General Assembly.

She has authored and co-authored 20 books, including Whose Water is it Anyway?: Taking Water Protection into Public Hands and Still Hopeful: Lessons From a Lifetime of Activism.

Water policy

Film Barlow is featured in Sam Bozzo's documentary film Blue Gold: World Water Wars, based on Barlow and Tony Clarke's Blue Gold: The Right to Stop the Corporate Theft of the World’s Water, as well as Irena Salina's documentary Flow: For Love of Water and Liz Marshall's Water on the Table. Barlow also contributes to a blog associated with Water on the Table.

Barlow is the subject of a National Film Board of Canada documentary called Democracy à la Maude as well as a CBC TV Life and Times biography.

Published works

Books

Author or co-author Parcel of Rogues: How Free Trade Is Failing Canada – Key Porter Books, Toronto (1990) . Take Back the Nation (with Bruce Campbell) – Key Porter Books, Toronto (1991) . Take Back the Nation 2: Meeting the Threat of NAFTA (with Bruce Campbell) – Key Porter Books, Toronto (1993) . Class Warfare: The Assault on Canada's Schools (with Heather-Jane Robertson) – Key Porter Books, Toronto (1994) . Straight through the Heart: How the Liberals Abandoned the Just Society (with Bruce Campbell) – HarperCollins, Toronto (1995) . The Big Black Book: The Essential Views of Conrad and Barbara Amiel Black (with Jim Winter) – Stoddart, Toronto (1997) . MAI: The Multilateral Agreement on Investment and the Threat to Canadian Sovereignty (with Tony Clarke) – Stoddart, Toronto (1997) . MAI: The Multilateral Agreement on Investment and the Threat to American Freedom (with Tony Clarke) – Stoddart, Toronto (1998) . The Fight of My Life: Confessions of an Unrepentant Canadian – HarperCollins, Toronto (1998) . MAI Round 2: New Global and Internal Threats to Canadian Sovereignty (with Tony Clarke) – Stoddart, Toronto (1998) . Frederick Street: Life and Death on Canada's Love Canal (with Elizabeth May) – HarperCollins, Toronto (2000) . Global Showdown: How the New Activists Are Fighting Global Corporate Rule (with Tony Clarke) – Stoddart, Toronto (2001) . Blue Gold: The Battle Against Corporate Theft of the World's Water (with Tony Clarke) – Stoddart, Toronto (2002) . Profit Is Not the Cure: A Citizen's Guide to Saving Medicare – McClelland & Stewart, Toronto (2002) . Too Close For Comfort: Canada's Future Within Fortress North America – McClelland & Stewart, Toronto (2005) . Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Fight for the Right to Water – McClelland & Stewart, Toronto (2007) . Blue Future: Protecting Water for People and the Planet Forever – House of Anansi Press, Toronto (2013) . Boiling Point: Government Neglect, Corporate Abuse, and Canada's Water Crisis – ECW Press, Toronto (2016) . Whose Water Is It Anyway?: Taking Water Protection into Public Hands – ECW Press, Toronto (2019) . Still Hopeful: Lessons from a Lifetime of Activism – ECW Press, Toronto (2022) . Earth for Sale: The Fight to Stop the Last Plunder of the Planet – ECW Press, Toronto (2026) .

Contributor The Silent Revolution: Media, Democracy, and the Free Trade Debate – edited by James P. Winter, University of Ottawa Press (1990) Trading Freedom: How Free Trade Affect our Lives, Work, and Environment – edited by John Cavanagh, John Gershman, Karen Baker, and Gretchen Helmke, Institute for Policy Studies, Washington (1992) Crossing the Line: Canada and Free Trade With Mexico – edited by Jim Sinclair, New Star Books, Vancouver (1992) The Charlottetown Accord, the Referendum, and the Future of Canada – edited by Kenneth McRoberts and Patrick J. Monahan, University of Toronto Press (1993) The Trojan Horse: Alberta and the Future of Canada – edited by Gordon Laxer and Trevor Harrison, Black Rose Books, Edmonton (1995) The Case Against the Global Economy and for a Turn Toward the Local – edited by Jerry Mander and Edward Goldsmith, Sierra Club Books, New York (1996) Globalization and the Live Performing Arts: Conference Papers – Monash University, Melbourne (2001) Alternatives to Economic Globalization: a Report of the International Forum on Globalization – edited by John Cavanagh and Jerry Mander, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, San Francisco (2002) Whose Water Is It?: The Unquenchable Thirst of a Water-Hungry World – edited by Bernadette McDonald and Douglas Jehl, National Geographic, Washington (2003) Meeting the Global Challenge: Competitive Position and Strategic Response – edited by Tom Wesson, York University Press, Toronto (2004) Globalization, Human Rights & Citizenship: an Anthology from the Gannett Lecture Series – edited by Robert Manning, Rochester Institute of Technology (2005)

Reports "Blue Gold: the Global Water Crisis and the Commodification of the World’s Water Supply" – International Forum on Globalization, San Francisco (June 1999) "The Free Trade Area of the Americas: the Threat to Social Programs, Environmental Sustainability and Social Justice" – International Forum on Globalization, San Francisco (February 2001) "The World Trade Organization and the Threat to Canada's Social Programs" – The Council of Canadians, Ottawa (September 2001) "Profit is Not the Cure: a Call to Action on the Future of Health Care in Canada" – The Council of Canadians, Ottawa (Winter 2002) "Making the Links: a Citizen's Guide to the World Trade Organization and the Free Trade Area of the Americas" (with Tony Clarke) – The Council of Canadians, Ottawa (Summer 2003) "The Global Fight Against Privatization of Water: Annual Report" – The World Forum on Alternatives, Geneva (April 2004) "The Canada We Want: a Citizen's Alternative to Deep Integration" – The Council of Canadians, Ottawa (March 2004)