The federal minister of Natural Resources, Hon. Seamus O’Regan Jr., has recently co-signed a series of opinion pieces across the country (e.g. here, here) that, simply put, cross an ethical line. In these letters, Minister O’Regan joins the CEO of Canada’s largest mining lobby group to promote the interests of the very same industry that he is supposed to regulate on behalf of all Canadians.

[Update: video recordings of the event are available in English and Spanish!] 

On the 12th anniversary of the assassination of Salvadoran water defender Marcelo Rivera, join activists from Canada, the United States, and El Salvador in a webinar discussion on lessons from North American activists and organizations’ decade-long solidarity relationship with Salvadoran water defenders for international solidarity work going forward. The conversation will draw on the rich history of Canadian solidarity with social movements in El Salvador.

(Toronto/New York) Today, MiningWatch Canada and concerned shareholders list Nouveau Monde Graphite’s (NYSE:NMG) (TSXV:NOU) top environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks related to its mining and processing projects in Quebec, Canada, for the electric vehicle (EV) battery supply chain.

Canadian NGOs and charities launch Parliamentary Petition calling on the Canadian government to support a moratorium on deep seabed mining in international waters

Join MiningWatch Canada, Oceans North and other Canadian organizations in calling for a moratorium on deep seabed mining in international waters. Sign the parliamentary petition we have co-sponsored. Canadian mining companies are on the forefront of efforts to extend mining and its harmful impacts into the world’s oceans. The Canadian government has been missing in action in international negotiations about the rules for mining of the seabed in parts of the ocean known as the Common Heritage of Humankind. All of humanity will suffer the impacts of further degradation of the ocean’s ability to sustain life on earth, but the most immediate impacts on food security will be felt by many of the world’s most vulnerable island and coastal communities. MiningWatch joins scientists, governments, and Pacific and global citizens in calling for a moratorium, or ban, on deep seabed mining.

Last Saturday, I had the great honour and surprise of receiving the “Allumettières” Recognition Award from the regional Fédération Intercoopérative de l'Outaouais, including for the commitment and work done with Coalition Québec Meilleure Mine and MiningWatch Canada. 

This award, which was as unexpected as it is appreciated, is really heartwarming.

Back in the early 1990s, the Kumtor mine was meant to become newly independent Kyrgyzstan’s ticket to prosperity. Kumtor, the seventh largest gold deposit in the world at the time, became the first mine in Central Asia to be operated by a Western company. But as often is the case with resource extraction in developing countries, the only parties who ended up gaining from the country’s mineral wealth were big businesses and corrupt politicians.

A global coalition of 180+ community platforms, human rights and environmental organisations and academics from 36 nations is calling on the EU to abandon its plans to massively expand dirty mining as part of EU Green Deal and Green Recovery plans.

(Ottawa) Today, the Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability (CNCA) released draft model legislation that provides lawmakers with a blueprint for writing into Canadian law the corporate duty to respect human rights and the environment.

The draft model law, if adopted, would require Canadian companies to prevent human rights and environmental harm throughout their global operations and supply chains.

By Alain Deneault and Ugo Lapointe (Respectively, professor, author of "Canada: A New Tax Haven" and co-founder of Échec aux paradis fiscaux; co-founder of the Coalition pour que le Québec ait meilleure mine and coordinator at MiningWatch Canada.)