New Website Promotes Informed Input into GNWT Mineral Resources Act Consultations

A coalition of NWT and national advocacy groups have created a website to promote informed input into the territorial government consultation on a new Mineral Resources Act.

(London-Washington-Ottawa). An international coalition of non-governmental organizations support the recommendations of a new report released today by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which urges governments and industry to act to stop deadly and damaging mining spills worldwide. UNEP calls for an urgent UN Environment Stakeholder Forum to strengthen regulations internationally.

(Paris/Ottawa, October 30, 2017) French anti-corruption organisation Sherpa and Canadian mining watchdog MiningWatch Canada today released a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, alerting him to the apparent failure of Canadian authorities to investigate serious bribery allegations against Kinross Gold. The organisations had submitted documentation to the RCMP in December 2015. Similar allegations are currently under investigation by the FBI and the SEC in the United States.

By Judith Lavoie

Over 200 community members, families, and property and business owners are still fighting Agnico Eagle and Yamana Gold over the impacts from the Canadian Malartic gold mine – the biggest open pit mine located on the edge of a community in Canada. The case will be before the Quebec Superior Court today, in Val d’Or.

Guest blog by Daniela Pastrana, Periodistas de a PIe Journalists Network, @danielapastrana

Translated from the original in Spanish by Christian Filip

This month, during Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s visit to Mexico, multiple videos circulated showing Mexican women legislators acting like teenagers, pushing one another aside in order to take a selfie with the leader who has been promoting his government to the world as feminist.

(London-Washington-Ottawa). An international coalition of non-governmental organizations welcomes the new Assessment Report Summary released last week in Geneva by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which urges States and the industry to end deadly and damaging mining waste spills by enforcing a “zero-failure objective.”

The joint UNEP-GRID Arendal assessment, “Mine Tailings Storage: Safety Is No Accident,” highlights over 40 mining waste failures over the last decade, including eight ‘significant’ spills since 2014 alone. These failures have killed some 341 people since 2008, damaged hundreds of kilometres of waterways, affected drinking water sources, and jeopardized the livelihoods of many communities.

MiningWatch Canada responds to a letter of September 21, 2017, from Barrick Gold’s subsidiary Acacia Mining, in regard to ongoing alleged excess use of force by mine security at the North Mara Gold Mine Ltd. in Tanzania, including another death of a villager allegedly shot by mine security on August 4, 2017. We also raise ongoing concern about the equitability of the mine’s grievance mechanism used to address such violence. Our concern is echoed in recent public statements made by retired Supreme Court of Canada Justice Ian Binnie, who visited the mine in August.

(Papua New Guinea) Sir Arnold Amet, former Papua New Guinean Attorney General and Minister for Justice has joined the growing opposition against Nautilus Minerals Solwara 1 deep sea mining project.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – October 18, 2017