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Please circulate! The Western Mining Action Network (WMAN) is hiring an Indigenous Caucus Coordinator to support communities affected by mining across North America. MiningWatch Canada is a Steering Committee member of WMAN JOB POSTING APPLY BY SEPTEMBER 29, 2017 JOB TITLE: Indigenous Caucus Coordinator TIME OF WORK: Part Time (10-12 hours/week, more when coordinating an event, $US30/hour) GENERAL RESPONSIBILITIES: WMAN is a network of Indigenous, conservation, and public interest groups that works to limit the adverse environmental, economic, and social impacts of the mining industry in...
22.09.2017
Canada needs a legislative framework to fulfill the promise of this vital human rights instrument The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples provides a crucial framework to achieve reconciliation. Such a human rights-based approach is essential to address the racism and discrimination that has caused such profound harm to Indigenous peoples in Canada and around the world. Violations include uprooting Indigenous peoples from their territories and resources, failure to honour Treaties, tearing Indigenous children from their families, and making Indigenous women, girls...
13.09.2017
On August 4, 2017, MiningWatch Canada received reports of another killing of a male villager, reportedly by gunshot by private security at Barrick Gold’s North Mara Gold Mine in Tanzania. This newly reported victim of alleged excess use of force by mine security furthers our concern that violence by mine security is ongoing at the North Mara mine in Tanzania. In a letter to Barrick we raise the problem of lack of access to remedy for victims of violence at the mine. And we again detail the shortcomings of the mine’s own operational-level grievance mechanism; shortcomings that we have been...
01.09.2017
The following article was co-written by MiningWatch Canada and Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala ( NISGUA ) with support from former NISGUA staff, Ellen Moore. Tahoe Resources is lobbying U.S. and Canadian authorities to intervene on its behalf following a July decision by Guatemala’s Supreme Court to temporarily suspend operations at the company’s Escobal silver mine. The decision cites discrimination and lack of prior consultation of Indigenous Xinka communities, whose ancestral territory in southeastern Guatemala is affected by the project. The country’s...
31.08.2017
These letters represent an exchange between MiningWatch Canada and RAID-UK and Acacia Mining plc. detailing ongoing concerns with regard to access to remedy and the operational-level grievance mechanism for victims of excess use of force by private and public mine security at the North Mara Gold Mine Ltd. in North Mara, Tanzania.
29.08.2017
Tell the federal government it's time to make environmental laws mean something. The federal Liberals came to power with a promise to restore and strengthen Canada's environmental laws. In June, 2016, the government began a sweeping review of key environmental laws and asked concerned individuals, communities, and organizations to contribute. They did – and we did, too. People from across the country, including grass-roots activists, academic experts, Indigenous governments and grassroots people alike – all pitched in. MiningWatch helped organise some of those contributions, and...
14.08.2017
Unless the Trudeau government takes a sharp turn from its current course, it’s starting to look as if fixing Canada’s environmental assessment law is going to be added to the growing list of bold commitments that it won’t deliver on. At the end of June, the federal government released a discussion paper outlining its plans. They amount to little more than tinkering with the Harper government’s devastating 2012 re-write of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act .
11.08.2017
Here's a set of key recommendations from various experts and references that believe catostrophic failures of mining waste facilities can be avoided if governments take the following actions (DRAFT - NOT EXHAUSTIVE - comments welcome): Governance: Safety is the priority, not costs. Vet out financially risky mining projects likely to cut corners and unable to afford the safest measures. Immediately assess all existing mining wastes facilities and dams for potential failures and financial risk analysis. Maintain a detailed mining waste facilities and dams inventory database accessible to public...
11.08.2017
Following the suspension of two of Tahoe Resources’ mine licences in Guatemala on July 5, Tahoe Resources’ suppliers, workers and the Guatemalan Industrial Association have engaged in a smear campaign in the Guatemalan press against the Centre for Environmental, Social and Legal Action (CALAS) and its members for having brought the claim against the Ministry of Energy and Mines that led to the decision. The defamation puts CALAS and its members at risk of further violence. On Wednesday July 5, the Guatemalan Supreme Court of Justice announced that it was temporarily suspending two of Tahoe...
19.07.2017
Diesel fumes, silica dust and radon gas—to name three examples of well-known air pollutants in mines— continue to affect thousands of miners across Canada and the world. Too little attention is paid to the health costs and impacts of this reality. Thanks to the work of organizations such as the Occupational Cancer Research Centre (OCRC) in Ontario, Canada, we get to know a bit more about this ongoing reality. Yesterday, at the first “ Lung Cancer and Prevention in Mining Symposium ” held in Sudbury, Paul Demers from OCRC made a powerful plea for more government and industry action to prevent...
12.07.2017