As Canadian mining interests expand, community representatives from the Dominican Republic and Haiti are calling on Canada to address threats to water, health, and agricultural livelihoods, and to hold Canadian companies accountable. 

OTTAWA – Two community leaders from Haiti and the Dominican Republic are in Ottawa this week to demand that Canada take responsibility for the impacts of its mining companies abroad. 

Their concerns span two projects at different stages of development: an open-pit gold mine operated by a Canadian company for nearly 15 years in the Dominican Republic that has been linked to widespread environmental and social harm, and a proposed mine along the Haitian border that could threaten cross-border water supplies amid Haiti’s deepening hunger and security crises. 

Leoncia Ramos lives beside Barrick Mining’s Pueblo Viejo gold mine in the Dominican Republic, where communities report water contamination, air pollution, and other health impacts. Barrick brought Pueblo Viejo back into production in 2012, and has since generated vast quantities of mine waste as Latin America’s largest gold mine. Barrick now plans a major expansion, including a new facility for storing hundreds of millions of tonnes of additional waste that will extend operations for years to come.  

Ramos organizes with the Comité Nuevo Renacer, which is demanding safe relocation for 450 families affected by the mine. Residents fear the expansion will worsen existing harms and raise concerns about the safety of the proposed new tailings dam. 

“Barrick Mining has long enjoyed the many privileges of being a Canadian company, including government support and financing, yet the Canadian government has done little to hold the company accountable,” says Ramos. “We call on Canada to investigate and remedy the harm, work jointly with the Dominican government to resettle our communities, and enforce international standards for transparency and tailings safety on Canadian mining companies.” 

Across the border, in Haiti, Dr. Ary Régis, a member of the Groupe d’Action Francophone pour l’Environnement (GAFE), sees a different but connected threat.  Canadian mining company Unigold is seeking an operating permit for a proposed gold mine in the Dominican Republic near the Haitian border.

Régis works with agricultural communities whose livelihoods depend on healthy lands and reliable water supplies. For these communities, the proposed mine raises serious concerns about potential impacts on agricultural livelihoods, shared water resources, and the depletion of Haiti’s already precarious water supply. These risks are particularly alarming as Haiti experiences a crisis marked by extreme armed gang violence, state collapse, and widespread food insecurity.  

“What is happening in the Dominican Republic has repercussions on the other side of the border,” says Régis. “Our government will not be able to respond in the event of inevitable environmental pollution caused by mining. Community organizations are keeping a close watch and want their voices to be heard and their rights to be respected throughout the process.”

For Régis, the proposed mine highlights the risks of advancing projects without adequately addressing their potential transboundary impacts and the vulnerability of communities that may have little ability to prevent or respond to environmental damage. 

Canada fails to answer for the impacts of its mining investments

Canadian investment has long dominated the Dominican Republic mining sector. Now, Canada is seeking to deepen its economic ties in the region, with a new defence partnership with the Dominican Republic and further funding to help address Haiti’s security crisis. While Canada expands trade globally, back home, the government is narrowing already limited avenues for holding Canadian mining companies accountable for abuses committed abroad. 

These accountability failures are gaining international attention. The visit to Canada by Ms. Ramos and Dr. Régis comes on the heels of Tuesday’s hearing at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, where representatives from six countries in Latin America and the Caribbean testified to a pattern of abuse tied to Canadian mining companies. Supported by legal experts and a letter backed by 123 Canadian lawyers, academics, and organizations, witnesses denounced Canada’s voluntary approach to regulating corporate conduct and urgently called for binding accountability legislation. 

Leoncia Ramos and Dr. Ary Régis will be in Canada until November 2 to urge Canadian decision-makers to act on community concerns, address the risks posed by mining expansion, and ensure that affected people have meaningful access to accountability and remedy. Both spoke at a parliamentary press conference yesterday, sponsored by MP Heather McPherson, and are available for interviews.

The visit is supported by MiningWatch Canada, Development and Peace ― Caritas Canada, and the Canadian Network for Corporate Accountability. 

MEDIA CONTACT
For media inquiries, please contact Val Croft, val@miningwatch.ca, 416-707-5986.

SUPPORTING QUOTES

• “Communities affected by Canadian mining projects continue to raise serious concerns about environmental harm, threats to livelihoods, and the lack of effective remedies. The consequences of Canadian mining investment do not end at Canada’s borders―and neither should Canada’s responsibility.” – Diana Martin, Co-Manager, MiningWatch Canada
• “Water and agriculture sustain communities on both sides of the Haitian-Dominican border. Mining companies must be held accountable for their impacts across national boundaries. The people who depend on our shared ecological heritage must not be left to bear the risks without meaningful protection or recourse.” – Kiegan Irish, Advocacy Officer, Development and Peace – Caritas Canada
• “Canada continues to prioritize mining investment while treating corporate accountability as an afterthought―if at all. The closure of the office of the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise has made an already serious accountability gap worse. Canada needs effective mechanisms to investigate allegations of corporate abuse and a mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence law to help ensure affected communities can access justice and remedy.” – Aidan Gilchrist-Blackwood, Coordinator, Canadian Network for Corporate Accountability