Blog Entry

The Chevron Case: Debate with Representatives of the Affected Communities of the Ecuadorian Amazon

Jamie Kneen

National Program Co-Lead

Thursday, September 15 @ 7:00pm @ Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 252 Bloor St. W., Floor 2, Room 212


Organizers: International Human Rights Program of the University of Toronto (IHRP), MiningWatch Canada, Educators for Peace and Justice, and Union of People Affected by the Oil Operations of Texaco (now Chevron) (UDAPT)

Sponsored by: Latin American Studies of the University of Toronto (LAS)

This week the court of Toronto will hold a trial concerning the recognition and enforcement of the Ecuadorian sentence condemning Chevron to pay for the remediation of the damages caused in the Amazon. The Indigenous and peasant communities seek to seize Chevron's assets in Canada to comply with its liability ($9.5 billion) to remediate the enormous damages caused  in the Amazon.  This is one of the most important contamination cases in the world. The trial outcome will set a worldwide precedent for affected people whose rights have been violated by transnational corporations.

Panelists:

  • Humberto Piaguaje, Siekopai: executive coordinator of the Union of people affected by the oil operations of Texaco (now Chevron) - UDAPT, representing 30 000 peasants and indigenous of 5 nations in the Ecuadorian Amazon
  • Pablo Fajardo, main lawyer of the UDAPT, coordinating trials to enforce the Ecuadorian sentence for the remediation ($9.5 billion) in Argentina, Brasil, Ecuador, Canada and the USA
  • Cory Wanless, lawyer at Klippensteins Barristers and Solicitors. Cory represents clients  in the areas of corporate accountability, native rights, environmental law. Along with Murray Klippenstein, he represented the IHRP,  MiningWatch Canada, and the Canadian Centre for International Justice in a joint intervention at the Supreme Court of Canada in the matter of Yaiguaje v. Chevron
The Chevron Case Against Corporate Impunity