Barrick Gold

News release: (Ottawa, May 5, 2011) For the fourth year in a row, Indigenous Ipili leaders from Porgera in Papua New Guinea (PNG) are in Canada to protest ongoing severe environmental impacts and human rights abuses associated with Barrick’s Porgera mine.

On March 1, 2011, MiningWatch Canada and two of our partner organizations in Papua New Guinea submitted a Request for Review to the office of the Canadian National Contact Point (NCP) for the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. The Request for Review concerns the operations of Barrick Gold Corporation at the Porgera Joint Venture mine on the land of the indigenous Ipili of Porgera, Enga province, Papua New Guinea.

Presentation to Queen's University, International Development Week: Weak governance, investment protection agreements and strong political supports for Canadian companies operating in regions like Latin America make voluntary guidelines to ensure human rights protection a step in the wrong direction.

On October 27, 2010, Bill C-300, the so-called Responsible Mining Bill, went to a final vote in the House of Commons. There were no illusions that the private member’s bill, put forward by Liberal MP John McKay, would breeze to victory. The ruling Conservative party whipped its MPs to oppose the Bill. And while the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois had expressed solid support for the Bill from the start, it was unclear how many would actually be in the House for the crucial vote, or, whether the intense industry lobby against the Bill may sway some to stay away.