Québec

News release: This week, Canadian taxpayers will cover the costs of eleven journalists from eight Latin American countries – and Mongolia – to attend the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s (PDAC) 2012 conference. This appears to be another attempt on the part of Canadian authorities to manage the message instead of seriously addressing the roots of mine conflicts in countries such as Argentina, Honduras, Guatemala, Peru, and Ecuador.

News release: (Montréal) "The survey by Léger Marketing on the mining industry confirms the relevance and importance of our work over the last four years,” said Ugo Lapointe of the Coalition Québec meilleure mine (Better Mining Coalition). According to the survey, a majority of residents of Québec including the Abitibi region (the most active mining area of Québec) agree that there is a need for further reforms to improve royalties, environmental protection and respect of citizens’ rights.

One of MiningWatch’s core areas of work is the promotion of Indigenous rights and recognition of title and the stewardship role that Indigenous people maintain across Canada and internationally. This article offers an overview of recent developments, including hopeful signs but also the considerable challenges in reconciling Indigenous rights and title with the mining industry and Canadian governments.

News release: Despite acknowledging that project does not have a social licence to proceed and identifying a long list inadequacies in the environmental assessment, the panel makes a finding that the project is unlikely to have significant environmental effects and recommends approval of the project, albeit with a host of unenforceable conditions.