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.
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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...
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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...
Contamination from abandoned mines gets a higher profile
On January 11th, MiningWatch Canada presented a plan for dealing with Canada's abandoned mines crisis to the eight members of cabinet most responsible for finding solutions to this issue. The plan calls for:
- A national inventory of sites for which the federal government carries responsibility...
Environmental and human rights repercussions of Canadian mining investment in Ghana, West Africa
When foreign investment is encouraged in the absence of adequate controls, the results can be very disturbing. This was one of the themes coming out of the "Mining, development, and social conflicts in Africa" conference held by the Third World Network (TWN) in Accra, Ghana on November 14-18, 1999...
"On the Ground Research" conference getting off the ground
April 14-16, 2000: MiningWatch Canada, together with the Canadian Consortium for International Co-operation (CCISD), is hosting a workshop in Ottawa of 25-30 community leaders from rural and indigenous communities affected by mining around the world.
Participants will share their experience in...
Canadian Environmental Assessment Act under review
Five years after it came into force, it is time to look at the effectiveness of the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act (CEAA). Under the law, after five years the Minister of Environment must report to Parliament on the adequacy of the law and its implementation, and propose needed changes.
Thro...
Regional grants program announced
MiningWatch Canada has initiated a small regional grants program. The goal of the program is to strengthen the capacity of people in communities affected by mining activities to assert their needs and rights. We will fund travel and exchange between community leaders and education and...
First-ever Annual General Meeting set for Toronto, March 3-5, 2000
The first annual general meeting for MiningWatch Canada will be held in Toronto on Saturday, March 4 at 9am, at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education on Bloor Street. The business portion of the meeting takes place from 9 am to 10 am. Two exciting workshops will follow: