Indigenous women from Ecuador bring concerns on mining abuses, free trade to Parliament Hill

Brent Forrester, CBC News

Indigenous women from Ecuador are in Ottawa this week raising concerns a proposed free trade agreement could enable human rights abuses by Canadian mining companies operating on their ancestral lands.

The delegation travelled thousands of kilometres from the rural reaches of the Ecuadorian Amazon to Canada's capital city, bringing what they say is an urgent message of grave concern to the doorstep of Parliament Hill.

...

Source
CBC
Key Issues

Why We Say No: Ecuadorian Indigenous women and rights defenders bring message of concern to Canada amid high-stakes trade negotiations

Toronto – Four women leaders on the front lines of increasingly dangerous efforts to protect rights and the environment in Ecuador will visit Canada next week to speak out against intensifying trade talks aimed at expanding Canadian resource extraction projects in ecologically vulnerable regions.

Source
MiningWatch Canada – Amnesty International Canada – KAIROS – Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives

“Free the Santa Marta Five” International Speaking Tour Will Feature Events in Canada, USA, and Germany, Sept. 23 – Oct. 7

Trial of Water Defenders in El Salvador Begins October 8 

Leading international groups, lawyers, and academics announce consecutive weeks of action to call on the Salvadoran government to drop charges ahead of Oct. 8 trial against five prominent water defenders known as the "Santa Marta Five."

By Olivia Alperstein, John Cavanagh, Pedro Cabezas

Source
Institute for Policy Studies - International Allies Against Mining in El Salvador

Quebec won’t fund graphite mine project tied to Pentagon; locals claim ‘victory’

MONTREAL - After years fighting against the opening of a mining project with ties to the Pentagon, Louis Saint-Hilaire is breathing a sigh of relief.

That’s because this week, the Quebec government rejected the mining company’s application for public funding, a decision Saint-Hilaire says reflects the will of many of the people who live near the proposed site in the Laurentians region.

“It’s a big victory for us, but it’s not a total victory,” he said in an interview Wednesday.

Source
The Canadian Press
Key Issues

Porgera is Burning, Where is Barrick?

“We are dying, ...we have no shelter from the rain, ...we are eating tree bark”

Ottawa – An already desperate situation at the site of Barrick Gold Corp.’s (Barrick) New Porgera Ltd.’s (Porgera) gold mine in the highlands of Papua New Guinea has become deadly for local Indigenous villagers in Porgera, who wonder why Barrick is doing nothing to help them.

Source
MiningWatch Canada

Comments on the Federal Government's Emergency Decree to Protect the Habitat of the Boreal Caribou in Quebec

MiningWatch Canada and the Coalition Québec Meilleure Mine hereby submit their joint comments on the Government of Canada's Emergency Order to Protect Boreal Caribou Habitat in Quebec (hereinafter, the "Federal Order") as part of the consultation process announced on June 19, 2024 and ending today.

Communities in the Dominican Republic Call on Government for Immediate Relocation away from Gold Mine

Today, dozens of people from rural communities in the Dominican Republic living next to the world’s sixth largest gold mine are joined by allies from across the country as they enter their third day of protests. Over the last two days, community members marched over 100 kilometers to the capital, Santo Domingo, culminating with today’s protest in front of the National Palace and the Ministries of Mining and the Environment.

Source
MiningWatch – Earthworks

Yukon gold mine disaster sparks fears of soaring taxpayer bill

Jacob Lorinc, Bloomberg

The sudden collapse of Victoria Gold Corp.’s Eagle Mine — and with it, the company — is part of a long and ugly history in northern Canada.

To this day, Canada’s federal government is still cleaning up arsenic and cyanide spills from mines that were abandoned by their owners decades ago. The country’s taxpayers are footing the bill.

...

Source
Bloomberg

Guest Blog | Osisko ‘incubates’ a mine disaster in Yukon

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on
Special Blog Type

The following was written by Dave Jorgenson, a member of Friends of Responsible Economic Development (FRED) in Wells, British Columbia. This article is republished with permission and was originally posted here.

Government seizes Barkerville Gold’s sister operation in Yukon after mis-management and ‘failure to comply’ leads to disaster.

Subscribe to