The final day of her Mexican state visit on December 10th 2009 was marked by protests and shouts of "Canada, get out." Although Governor-General Michaëlle Jean was kept at some distance from protestors she later condemned the high-profile murder of an anti-mining activist who had opposed a Canadian mining development in Chiapas.
About 50 supporters of slain protester Mariano Abarca Roblero gathered in the southern town of San Cristobal de Las Casas, where Ms. Jean was visiting a women's collective. The protesters wore paper cutouts of skulls over their faces, and carried signs bearing Mr. Roblero's photo. Roblero who was gunned down in front of his home on Nov. 27 2009 had publicly opposed a Mexican barite mine owned by Calgary-based Blackfire Exploration.
Mariano Abarca Roblero talks about his community's struggle against
Canadian Blackfire Corporation in Chiapas, July 2009.
He was shot & killed on November 27th 2009. - Photo by Tamara Herman
Roger Maldonado, another local activist who knew Mr Roblero, said Blackfire had been accused of causing serious environmental damage including water pollution and toxic emissions and bribing local officials into compliance. Reports later confirmed that Blackfire had been paying one of the local mayors a monthly fee of $1000 although Blackfire claimed that the payments were extorted. Maldonado added that anti-mining activists had faced threats and retaliation from mine employees on other occasions.
Three men charged in Roblero's death were directly linked to the Canadian mining company. One of the men arrested was a former employee, another worked as a contractor doing dust control on the roads and the third man was employed as a supervisor at the mine. Although Roblero had recently received death threats, Blackfire's president Brent Willis denied that any of the men had ever acted as security for the company, and called the death a tragedy. Blackfire admits that their image has been tainted but this is not the first time that Canadian mining companies have been linked to heavy-handed security measures to "protect" mining interests.
In May 2009 violence broke out in Peru when hundreds of community members who work in the extraction of minerals for the Canadian mining company Barrick Gold, in Huaraz gathered to request an increase of salaries. When company officials denied their request, the community members blocked the access roads to the mines with stones and tree trunks as a means of protest. This civil action was met with tear gas bombs launched by a police patrol, to which the demonstrators responded by throwing stones. Barrick Gold sent in a contingent of police and two people were killed while another 20 were seriously injured. According to police spokespersons, a total of 30 police agents are employed as security for the mining company.
Two years earlier a small Mayan community in the highlands of Guatemala also defied a powerful Canadian mining company by holding a community vote on whether to allow mining on its territory. They overwhelmingly voted to halt mining activity which is devastating their land but the community's basic rights have been ignored by Goldcorp. To add further insult this ongoing dispute is being played out against a backdrop of intimidation and violence eerily reminiscent of the 1960's civil war when a campaign to massacre Mayan villages brought brutal repression. The major players in this dispute are the Canadian mining company Goldcorp, the Guatemalan government, the World Bank and the Canadian government each of which has a stake in the profitability of the mine.
"The Pacific Rim Mining Corporation is an environmentally and socially responsible exploration company focused on environmentally clean gold deposits in the Americas," states the company. The transnational corporation which is based in Vancouver is suing Cabanas State in El Salvador for one hundred million dollars as compensation for perceived loss of profits when the state denied a gold mining permit. The company, which faces strong community opposition claims that the permit denial breaches CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement).
Meanwhile violence toward opponents of Pacific Rim's mining operations is escalating in Cabanas. In June 2009 the body of environmentalist Gustavo Rivera Moreno was found in a well, with signs of torture and later in the year Ramiro Gomez, Vice President of the Environmental Committee of Cabanas (ACC), was assassinated. More recently on December 26th Dora Alicia Recinos was gunned down in her eighth month of pregnancy while carrying her two-year old child. She and her husband were both outspoken opponents of the proposed El Dorado Mine in Cabanas which Pacific Rim is desperate to open despite widespread community opposition.
Toronto lawyer, Murray Klippenstein believes that Canadian mining companies operating in other countries with impunity should be held accountable for atrocities in Canadian courts. He is testing this premise by representing three villagers from the valley of Intag in Ecuador who are suing the Canadian Copper Mesa Mining Corporation and the Toronto Stock Exchange. The stock exchange which has never been sued is one of the leading financial backers although it was specifically advised not to fund the Intag mine because it could evoke violence.
The rich mineral deposits that are buried beneath the tropical, dense forests in the foothills of the Ecuadorian Andes have attracted miners from a range of countries for many years. The arrival of Canadian prospectors in 1997 was immediately met by opposition from the local community. They felt a mine there would jeopardize their indigenous way of life and endanger the unique regional biodiversity exacerbated by the bullying tactics of "consultation."ť
A decade later the villagers of the small Ecuadorian village who attempted to block a proposed open-pit copper mining development near their village soon became victims of threats and attacks. Some of these threats were caught on video-tape where security guards tried to force their way into the village. Several dozen men, wearing bullet-proof vests and armed with shotguns and teargas were met by a villagers' blockade as a military helicopter flew overhead. Eye-witnesses reported that the ex-military armed security on the ground and the helicopter had been hired by the local mining company which is a subsidiary of the Canadian Copper Mesa Mining Corporation.
Complaints made by local residents to human rights organizations include: the offer of money to the presidents of the communities in exchange for their signature in favour of mining; the presence of bodyguards and para-military troops strongly armed with pistols, tear-gas and bombs; payments to attend meetings convened by the mining company; pressure on the participants to sign blank sheets of paper; hiring of non-authorized outsourcing companies; and repeated invasion of private property.
This is the first time that a Canadian mining company operating outside of the country has been charged in a Canadian court. Klippenstein believes that executives of Canadian mining companies need to be held legally accountable because corruption is endemic in international mining practices. Junior companies are often fronted to do the prospecting, as they pave the way for large mines by using strong-armed "persuasive" tactics in vulnerable systems. Klippenstein accuses the Canadian government of being complicit in unethical or militant practices through lack of regulations but the Harper government rejects the need for legislated guidelines. Meanwhile corporations are able to define "social responsibility"with blatant self-interest.
The Intag lawsuit is a challenge to our current legal system because there is no precedent. As part of ongoing international research, Canadian Supreme Court Justice Ian Binnie found Canadian courts lack the power to deal with claims by people living in the developing world who allege Canadian companies have violated their human rights. Binnie has found that, as a result, foreigners with legitimate claims may be left with no effective recourse or remedy. He says that companies that face bad publicity in Canada also lack a forum for a legal response to accusations notwithstanding their capacity for highly financed public relations campaigns. There is an urgent need for legal reforms to provide some semblance of justice in these David and Goliath circumstances.
Most social justice organizations believe that the mining industry should be regulated so that they respect environmental integrity and human rights. The Canadian government consultations in 2006 came to the same conclusion when a consensus was reached by the mining industry and civil society organizations. One of their main recommendations was to establish an independent ombudsperson. This would give the developing nations a voice when they are threatened or harmed by the uncontrolled activities of Canadian mining companies. Four years later there has still been no appointment of an ombudsperson.
If there were a Canadian ombudsperson, "that person could investigate what is happening to the communities and the environment," says Sixto Lon of the National Coalition of Communities Affected by Mining Projects in Ecuador. Alicia Granda, a researcher and human rights activist adds that "an ombudsperson would help our overall struggle against mining and oil companies acting with impunity."ť
Another significant problem is that many developing countries are pressured to rewrite their mining laws in order to facilitate international mining practices. Ecuador's current mining law was influenced by Canadian mining companies and funded by the World Bank. During the initial plan environmental standards were seriously compromised and were denounced by the Ecological Defence and Conservation of Intag (DECOIN). The new Mining Law permits large-scale, open pit metal mining in pristine Andean highlands and Amazon rainforest. The complaint resulted in an investigation by the same World Bank in a glaring conflict of interest.
Klippenstein acknowledges the "staggering financial mismatch" in his law suit and says that companies have hundreds of millions of dollars vested in profits, so he expects that they will spend tens of millions in their defence. He also anticipates years of counterattacks, including unrelenting appeals on technicalities. But he emphasized that the basics of his case is straightforward. "There's a simple fundamental legal point that you shouldn't harm somebody and that you shouldn't use your money to hire someone who is likely to do harm."ť
Disputes with offshore Canadian mining companies about lack of consultation, human rights violations, environmental degradation and para-military security and intimidation tactics are numerous. Mining Watch and the Council of Canadians are lobbying for the support of Bill C-300, an Act respecting Corporate Accountability for the Activities of Mining, Oil or Gas in Developing Countries. Bill C-300 which was tabled by Liberal MP John McKay had narrowly passed second reading in April 2009 and was awaiting third reading when parliament was prorogued.
Bill C-300 assures improved corporate accountability by withdrawing financial and political support to mining companies that breach human rights and environmental standards. For the first time in Canadian international mining history a complaints mechanism would be available. The bill defines a more objective relationship between Canadian extractive companies and government agencies such as Export Development Canada and the Department of Foreign Affairs & International Trade in an attempt to limit government bias influenced by investment profits.
NDP MP Peter Julian says that Mr. McKay's bill is not far reaching enough since people harmed by Canadian corporations operating in other countries must be able to seek redress in a Canadian court. In addition many mining critics believe that Canadian-financed offshore tribunals are also essential under the current deteriorating circumstances. Bill C-300 also excludes the provision of an urgently needed ombudsperson but the modest legislation is seen as an important first-step measure.
The bill which designs a framework for government accountability was stringently opposed by the Harper Conservatives in concert with a powerful industry. In a contemptuous move to prorogue parliament on December 30th Harper obliterated pending legislation rendering the last parliamentary session virtually meaningless. Private members bills however are the lone survivors of prorogation and it is hoped that Bill C-300 can be revived in the fray of stolen time.
In the meantime unbridled Canadian mining companies are out of control in too many countries, operating with a pejorative sense of entitlement. The people who are adversely affected are left with few options other than to protest, even when they are met with brutal force.
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