Canada

Joint news release with Ecojustice and the Canadian Environmental Law Association: Ottawa, ON – Today, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the Canadian government has violated a national environmental law aimed at ensuring sustainable development. In a case centered on the proposed Red Chris mine in British Columbia, the Court ruled that the federal government cannot split projects into artificially small parts to avoid rigorous environmental assessments. The ruling also guarantees that the public will be consulted about major industrial projects, including large metal mines and tar sands developments.

One of MiningWatch Canada's fundamental principles is that mining activiities, including exploration should only occur with the support of local communities. Our uranium policy also calls for a moratorium on new uranium projects.

[Joint news release] Great Lakes United, MiningWatch Canada and Ecojustice are hailing a landmark decision from the Federal Court of Canada released late yesterday that will force the federal government to stop withholding data on one of Canada’s largest sources of pollution – millions of tonnes of toxic mine tailings and waste rock from mining operations throughout the country.

Joint news release with Northwatch: A major new report highlights serious impacts on the Canadian boreal forest from all phases of mining activity, from exploration to closure. Two respected mining industry watchdogs – Northwatch and MiningWatch Canada – say they published The Boreal Below (an all-new and expanded version of a widely circulated 2001 report) in response to growing demand from communities across Canada for information and analysis to help understand the impacts of mining on their lives and livelihoods. It provides a carefully-documented analysis of the social, environmental, and cultural impacts of mining from prospecting to mine closure, as well as an overview of the current situation by province and territory.

[Joint news release] Litigation was launched today against Canada’s Minister of Environment to ensure that the hundreds of millions of kilograms of toxic mining waste being kept secret from the Canadian public are reported.

MiningWatch has learned from Environment Canada (EC) that together with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) they now maintain a list of some twenty lakes that are slated for destruction by mine waste over the next few years. This amounts to a massive public subsidy to the global mining industry in the form of healthy Canadian lakes.

There are no clean diamonds. Exploring for them, digging them out of the ground and selling them requires sacrifices from the natural environment, from the wildlife and fish that live on it, and from the Aboriginal people who depend on it.

We want to ensure that the public understand that Canada’s Aboriginal communities are engaged in a daily power struggle to ensure that the mines benefit their people, and to ensure that these mines do not irreversibly damage the intricate web of life on which we all depend.

The Green Budget Coalition today urged the Government of Canada to seize the unique opportunities available to cut spending while improving Canada's long-term environmental, economic, and health status.

Across Canada, those seeking to protect biodiversity and those seeking mineral wealth have often ended up looking up the same valleys. Mineral development - from exploration to mine closure - poses some unique challenges and concern. This discussion paper lays out some of the primary issues and concerns related to mining in protected areas from a biodiversity-protection perspective. It provides an overview for those concerned about mining and environment conflicts, and raises questions about future directions. Prepared by the Environmental Mining Council of British Columbia for the World Wildlife Federation.