Economic Development

News release: MiningWatch Canada is very disappointed to see the end of an important federal program that funded training for Aboriginal peoples across Canada. The Aboriginal Skills and Employment Partnership Program (ASEP) was not specific to the mineral sector but many of the projects that received funding focussed on the natural resources sectors and mining in particular.

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?

News release: The legacy of Goldcorp’s Marlin mine in Guatemala “could well be ecological devastation and impoverishment” finds a new study from Tufts University’s Global Development and Environment Institute (GDAE). When the long-term environmental risks of the open-pit gold and silver mine are put in the balance with economic gains, the institute finds the benefits to be “meager and short-lived,” especially for local communities.

A new report, commissioned by MiningWatch Canada and written by Joan Kuyek, cuts through the hype and raises important questions about the viability and potential benefits of developing the Ring of Fire’s chromite deposits.