Publication

More Shine Than Substance: How RJC certification fails to create responsible jewelry

Published jointly with IndustriALL, CFMEU Australia, United Steelworkers, and Earthworks, this report examines the scope of the Responsible Jewellery Council's certification system and analyzes its components: its governance, membership, standards, auditing, and system for dealing with complaints, among others. It concludes that the certification system cannot provide consumers with meaningful reassurance about the ethical antecedents of the jewelry and minerals produced by its member companies.

Publication

Corruption, Murder and Canadian Mining in Mexico: The Case of Blackfire Exploration and the Canadian Embassy

Documents released from the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) under an access to information request raise serious concerns about the conduct of the Canadian Embassy in Mexico. Throughout a conflict involving Blackfire Exploration’s mining activities in the municipality of Chicomuselo, Chiapas that saw an activist shot and ultimately triggered an RCMP investigation over corruption, it appears the Embassy provided instrumental and unconscionable support to the operations of a Canadian mining company in Mexico.

Guest Publication

No Means No: The Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug and the Fight for Resource Sovereignty

In 2006, a remote Ontario First Nation, Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI), said 'no' to a mining company, was sued for $10 billion, had its leaders found in contempt of court and jailed but eventually prevailed when, three years later, the Ontario government paid the company $5 million to go away. This 7-page e-book by KI's political advisor and former MiningWatch board member David Peerla tells how it all happened.

Publication

Introduction to the Legal Framework for Mining in Canada

This report is a response to requests from community members, activists, and academics in Canada and abroad for information about how Canadian mining laws function. The document provides a non-technical overview of Canadian mining laws, selected ‘lessons learned’ and the outcomes of mining code reform projects. In order to keep the document accessible to a wide audience we have kept it brief but provide links to sources for more detailed information.

Brief

Presentation to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance on Bill C-38, the Budget Implementation Act

Jamie Kneen testified before a special subcommittee of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance looking specifially at section 3 of Bill C-38, the section of the budget implementation Act that repeals and replaces the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and makes serious changes to the Fisheries Act and numerous other environmental laws.