Newsletter 07: Autumn 2001

Cottagers and residents of Bedford County, Ontario have found out what it means to lose the mineral rights to your property. If someone wants to prospect or develop a mine in your front yard, you are only entitled to compensation, not to stop it.

Bedford is in the Rideau Lakes area of the province about a half hour north of Kingston, near Westport. It is a mixture of local people and cottagers. Many of the cottagers have had their property for years and intend to retire there. Tourism is a major economic generator in the region.

In October MiningWatch Canada hosted a delegation of four people from New Caledonia. Two members of the NGO Action Biosphere and two indigenous Kanak chiefs (the President and the Secretary General of the Senat Coutumier) came to Canada to better understand the nickel mine INCO is planning to build in Goro, New Caledonia and to learn from community members in Canada who have experience with existing, or proposed, INCO mines.

On November 4-7, Joan Kuyek was in Kenya as a guest of Action Aid Kenya and the Coast Rights Forum. She made presentations on Canadian Mining Law and Regulation in Mombasa and in Nairobi, and visited with farmers in Kwale who are fighting their relocation to make room for a titanium mine owned by Tiomin Resources of Canada.

There is growing public concern about the condition of fresh water in Canada. Mining affects fresh water through heavy use of water in processing ore, and through water pollution from discharged mine effluent and seepage from tailings and waste rock impoundments. There are various regulatory and voluntary efforts underway to deal with the problem of water pollution from mining.