In mid-October two Kenyan human rights lawyers, Willy Matunga and Haron Ndubi, toured Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa to raise awareness about plans for a disastrous mine in southern Kenya. They visited NGOs and community groups, as well as representatives of the proponent, Tiomin Resources Inc., the C...
New mining effluent regulations to be gazetted this fall
The revisions to the Metal Mining Liquid Effluent Regulations (MMLER) will be published this fall, probably in November. There will be a 60 day comment period before they become law.
The regulations provide exemptions for the mining industry from Section 36 of the Fisheries Act. That section of the...
International workshop video released: "Our Stories Belong to That Mountain"
We successfully launched the video and report from this April's "On the Ground Research" workshop at a public event on September 14. Over seventy people attended the event, which was held at the International Development Research Centre. Roger Moody, in town to present his research report on...
Sudbury Falconbridge workers out on strike since August 1
Scabs and management are keeping the nickel mines and smelter operating at Falconbridge Nickel Mines in Sudbury, Ontario. The Union (MineMill Local 598 of the Canadian Auto Workers) has been out on strike since August 1, protesting contracting out, wage rollbacks and other measures that will "gut...
Victory against plan to dump Toronto garbage in abandoned Adams mine
With First Nations, angry residents of north Eastern Ontario, and environmentally conscious people around the world, Brennain Lloyd of Northwatch (our co-chair) is claiming victory in the struggle to stop the plans to ship Toronto's garbage 600 kilometres north by rail and dump it in an abandoned...
Work on cleaning up abandoned mines continues
The urgency of abandoned mines clean-up is becoming increasingly obvious to federal decision-makers. This summer, MiningWatch Canada has been working with the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) and officials at Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) to come up with a plan that will:
- Create a database and...
"Sustainable Development" in the Canadian Government
In 1995, the federal government issued a "Guide to Green Government" and the Auditor General Act was amended to made sustainable development an integral part of federal policy. All 28 federal departments were asked to develop and table sustainable development strategies in accordance with the Act. T...
Workshop on Women, Mining and the Environment held in Whitehorse
Gaining Ground: Women, Mining and the Environment was a two-day gathering held at Lake LaBerge, Yukon, September 15-17, 2000. It brought together women from Yukon communities affected by mining and women from elsewhere with experience in the health, science, and social science sectors. The gathering...
Why Ivanhoe Mines is Incorporated in the Yukon: Sanctions and the Taxation of Foreign Mining Investment in Yukon and Canada
MiningWatch Canada Backgrounder
1. Sanctions do not include investment. Investment is not included in the sanctions imposed by Canada on Burma in 1997. The sanctions were restricted to imports and exports. According both the First Dynasty and Ivanhoe Mines Annual Information Returns 2000, "the...
A Response from Tiomin Resources
Tiomin Resources has responded to some of the information presented by Action Aid and the Kenyatta University researchers. Matthew Edler, Vice President of Tiomin Resources, faxed us a letter on August 8, 2000, which you can view here.
MiningWatch hosts workshop for communities affected by large scale mining
On April 14-16, 2000, MiningWatch Canada hosted thirty participants from eleven different countries at a participatory workshop to look at the research needs of communities affected by mining. We had local community representatives and on-the-ground NGOs from Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New...
Sulawesi activists visit Toronto, Nitassinan (Labrador) and Sudbury
Indonesian mining activists Arianto (Anto) Sangaji of the Free Earth Foundation and Andi Baso Am of KWAS, the indigenous peoples' organisation of Soroako on the island of Sulawesi, spent the last two weeks of April visiting communities in Canada that also have to deal with Inco.
The tour...
Spotlight on Canadian Rôle in Relocations in Tarkwa, Ghana
A submission by Entraide Missionaire, a Montréal-based human rights group, to the annual Foreign Affairs human rights consultation, got a lot more attention than such presentations usually receive when it was written up in the Globe and Mail. The report documents the way that the privatisation of...
Public to get input on EDC environment and human rights rules
On May 18, 2000, International Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew responded to the recommendations of a Parliamentary review of the Export Development Act, which is the Act governing the Export Development Corporation (EDC). According to Pettigrew, "The way the Corporation addresses these issues will...
Comments submitted to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency (CEAA) Regarding the Comprehensive Study of the Aquarius Mine
This project should not go ahead. It has not had proper public consultation and review. It represents too great a potential cost to the environment on the area.
Submission to the Public Hearings on applications by Canadian United Minerals for licences to conduct mineral exploration in Tombstone Park
The applications of Canadian United Minerals for permits under the Quartz Mining Act to explore the "Horn claims" are of national significance. They attack the very basis of aboriginal title and interest. They fly in the face of commitments made by the Honourable Robert Nault to protect parks...