(Ottawa) New data released yesterday by the B.C. Crown Contaminated Sites Program (CCSP) has MiningWatch Canada to calling on the provincial government to “stop talking and start acting” to prevent future mine sites environmental disasters.
(Toronto/Ottawa) Today, during OceanaGold’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Toronto, company shareholders were asked to scrutinize company claims regarding supposed benefits for affected communities in El Salvador and the Philippines.
“It just doesn’t add up. OceanaGold is not acting in the interest of communities in El Salvador when it sues the country for USD $250 million over a mine permit that it has never met the regulatory requirements to obtain,” remarked Rachel Small from the Council of Canadians in Toronto.
(Ottawa) MiningWatch Canada today published a new analysis showing that British Columbia (BC) has the largest unsecured environmental liability for mine site clean-up costs when compared to the two other main mining jurisdictions in Canada: Ontario and Quebec.
BC’s total unsecured liability amounts to $1.5 billion, compared to $1.4 billion for Ontario and $1.2 billion for Quebec (see Table 1 in analysis, using provincial figures).
(Malartic, 26 May 2016) Local, provincial and national groups denounce Quebec Environment Minister David Heurtel for rushing into public hearings despite repeated demands by community members to postponed hearings until early fall. “The Minister’s haste contradicts his own government’s claim to prioritize community information and consultation prior to project approvals”, says Ugo Lapointe from MiningWatch and co-spokesperson for Coalition Quebec Meilleure Mine.
(Ottawa) Ahead of Ivanhoe Mines’ annual shareholders’ meeting tomorrow in Vancouver, community representatives and activists are asking if shareholders are prepared to condone the human rights abuses and illegal operations that they allege the company is responsible for as it pushes ahead with development of its Ivanplats (Platreefs) project in South Africa.
(Fredericton) The Sisson Mine should not be approved based on an expert review of the federal government’s Comprehensive Study Report of the project, says the Conservation Council of New Brunswick, a funded participant in the federal environmental review of the project.
(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C.) The B.C. government is enabling a dangerous disregard for environmental monitoring, reporting and protection among mining companies by letting them off the hook for the full costs of environmental reclamation – leaving taxpayers liable for more than $1.5 billion, a new report shows.
In reaction to Canadian Malartic's announcement of a 50 million dollar fund to finance a relocation and compensation program for community members affected by its open pit mine in Malartic, MiningWatch Canada and the Quebec Meilleure Mine Coalition claim the program should be more in the order of 200 million dollars to fully address the impacts suffered by community members since the mine started construction in 2010. The Canadian Malartic operation is the largest open pit mine in Canada located within an urban area.
“The scandal is what’s legal.” – Edward Snowden
The massive leak of secret banking information tagged “The Panama Papers” has made a lot of waves in the weeks since its contents started being made public, and they were renewed this week with the release of a searchable database of leaked material.
Those waves may yet prove strong enough to overcome the sandbag redoubts created by banks and wealth individuals and corporations (who are also legally people, right?) to protect their wealth from marauding tax collectors.
