Environmental law experts were in Ottawa today calling for a next-generation law to assess the sustainability of proposed pipelines, hydroelectric projects and industrial facilities. An independent panel appointed by the federal government is reporting to Catherine McKenna, the Minister of...
Ecuadorian Organizations Decry Promotion of Ecuador as 'Mining Country' during Mining Convention in Toronto
On Monday, together with the Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, we helped deliver the below statement during 'Ecuador Day' at the 2017 Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada's annual convention at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Written and signed by over twenty Ecuadorian...
Latin American Organizations Denounce the Deadly Impacts of Mining During PDAC 2017
This week, while an anticipated 20,000+ people wine and dine, discussing multi-million dollar deals and dreams during the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada mining convention (PDAC 2017) at the Toronto Metro Convention Centre, affected communities continue to pay a high price with...
The World Demands Justice for the Murder of Berta Cáceres
On March 2, 2016, Indigenous leader Berta Cáceres, an organizer with the Lenca people’s resistance in Honduras, was murdered despite security measures that she had been granted given constant threats against her.
Today, in Ottawa, in response to the call from Berta’s family and her organization...
In El Salvador, OceanaGold Must ‘Pay Up and Pack Up’
After seven years, four murders and US$24 million in total legal costs, in October 2016, a little-known World Bank tribunal trashed OceanaGold’s claim that El Salvador either owed it a mining permit for a proposed gold mine or US$250 million dollars.
The Washington D.C.-based International...
Persecution of Indigenous Leaders Persists in Ecuador
With deep concern, we share the following statement from the Ecumenical Human Rights Commission of Ecuador (CEDHU its initials in Spanish) denouncing the arrest of a Shuar Indigenous leader in southeastern Ecuador. This is part of an ongoing campaign of militarization, criminalization and forced...
Prosperity Mine – A Precautionary Tale: The Importance of Environmental Assessments
Ecojustice and MiningWatch Canada head to court this week to defend Fish Lake ("Teztan Biny" in Tŝilhqot’in) from a risky mining project.
Mining projects often put communities and the environment in great peril – we only need to look to the Mount Polley tailings spill to see an example of the...
Canada Needs a Human Rights Ombudsperson for the International Mining, Oil and Gas Sectors
Human rights abuses at Canadian-owned mining sites around the world are widespread and well-documented. Victims of such abuse have nowhere to turn to seek justice.
MiningWatch has joined with the Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability (CNCA) to urge Canada to create an effective...
In Memoriam: Arthur Manuel
The staff and Directors of MiningWatch Canada are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Arthur Manuel. We extend our most sincere condolences to his family, and to his extended circles of friends and comrades. It was our honour to work with him and learn from him. He was a great thinker...
"Blood of Extraction" – Ottawa Book Launch with Authors Todd Gordon and Jeffrey R. Webber
Join us for the upcoming Ottawa book launch of Blood of Extraction: Canadian Imperialism in Latin America with authors Todd Gordon and Jeffrey R. Webber that we are co-sponsoring with Octopus Books and Fernwood Publishing.
Wednesday, January 11th at 7pm
Life of Pie Bakery & Café
1134 Bank St...
Dozens of International Organizations and Networks Call for End to State of Emergency and Militarization in Ecuador's Southern Amazon
Today, nearly fifty international organizations and networks sent the following letter to Ecuadorian authorities urging an immediate end to the militarization and the State of Emergency that was declared in the southeastern Amazonian province of Morona Santiago last week. Instead of force, they...
Canada’s Hollow Human Rights Commitment on Honduras and Human Rights Defenders
The Liberal government is much more, well, liberal with their use of the words “human rights” that the previous Conservative government. In practice, however, this means little more than business as usual, particularly where big business is involved.
This was evident in the Minister of Foreign...
Video Message from Porgera Women to UN Forum on Business and Human Rights
Tired of waiting for fair compensation from mining giant Barrick Gold for gross sexual violence, 119 indigenous women from Papua New Guinea call for United Nations intervention. They sent this video message to the 5th annual UN Forum on Business and Human Rights taking place this week in Geneva.
Communities from the District of Chamaca Strike at HudBay Minerals’ Constancia Mine in Cusco, Peru
Sources: Peruvian Observatory of Mining Conflicts, Human Rights Without Borders – Cusco
Since Monday, about 1,000 community members from the district of Chamaca in the province of Chumbivilcas, in the southern region of Cusco, have been occupying the installation of HudBay Minerals’ Constancia...
Community members protest damage to homes near Tahoe Resources' mine, fear violent reprisal
In February 2016, houses in the village of La Cuchilla in the municipality of San Rafael Las Flores, began to crack and on April 19th, the houses began to fall down. The community is located less than 3 kilometers from Tahoe Resources’ Escobal mine, which has been operating an underground silver...
More than a few bad apples: "Militarized neoliberalism" and the Canadian state in Latin America
Stories of bloody, degrading violence associated with Canadian mining operations abroad sporadically land on Canadian news pages. HudBay Minerals, Goldcorp, Barrick Gold, Nevsun and Tahoe Resources are some of the bigger corporate names associated with this activity. Sometimes our attention is...