Canada

Mining takes place in many parts of Canada, mostly on Aboriginal lands, causing a range of impacts - environmental, economic, social, and health-related.

The Canadian Environmental Assessment Act has been under attack for many years by industry and provincial and federal governments who claim that rigorous environmental assessment and meaningful public involvement hamper economic growth and drive away investment by causing delay and uncertainty around major projects, and wasting time, money, and energy assessing small projects. Yet the purpose of the Act is to promote sustainable development.

(Toronto) The Ontario Superior Court of Justice has ordered that Solid Gold Resources Corp. cannot carry on any further exploration activity on its claims block for 120 days, and that during this time the company and the Ontario Crown must engage with Wahgoshig in a process of meaningful consultation and accommodation about any such further exploration.

In the last two weeks there has been an intense media storm around the current housing crisis in Attawapiskat, a remote Cree community on the coast of James Bay. One element of the story that’s getting some attention and is of particular interest to MiningWatch is the fact that the community is ‘host’ to DeBeers’ Victor diamond mine, located 90 km west of the community, upstream on the Attawapiskat River, within the traditional territory of the Omushkego Cree. The juxtaposition is stark: a diamond mine producing millions of dollars of a sparkling luxury item, next to the poverty and infrastructure deficits in Attawapiskat. It has led people to ask us: if there are millions of dollars of diamonds being taken from their traditional territory, why aren’t the conditions in the community improving?