Aimee Gabay, Mongabay

Violent crackdowns by Ecuadorian security forces on antimining protesters there have highlighted the outsize role that Canadian mining companies play in human rights abuses in other countries, and the failure by the government in Ottawa to police their conduct.

The latest controversy centers on Atico Mining, headquartered in Vancouver, whose La Plata gold and copper project in Ecuador’s Cotopaxi province, near Quito, has been opposed by residents for at least 15 years. At least 36 protesters were injured, one seriously, along with about 40 security personnel, in a series of protests that began on March 11 and turned violent after the company called in hundreds of police and paramilitary personnel to quell the protests.

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