quot;Dirty Water" Advocacy Tour demands Ottawa adopt recommendations to end Canadian mining a
Published by MAC on 2007-05-29
"Dirty Water" Advocacy Tour demands Ottawa adopt recommendations to end Canadian mining abuses
29th May 2007
OTTAWA, ONTARIO - Activist experts from around the globe, Canadian church leaders and the faith-based group KAIROS today called on the federal government to adopt recommendations that could help end widespread environmental damage and human rights abuses resulting from some overseas operations by Canadian mining companies.
Speaking at a news conference on Parliament Hill, they urged Ottawa to adopt recommendations made in a report on the global impact of Canadian mining operations. The Roundtable Report on Resource Extraction was prepared by an advisory group made up of Canadian mining industry representatives and civil society groups. The groundbreaking report marks the first time that industry and civil society have achieved consensus on next steps to address the problems.
It was released in March following federal roundtables into the oil, gas and mining sector held in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal last year. Community activists from around the world, some of whom are KAIROS partners, provided expert input into the roundtable process.
KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives is a faith-based nongovernmental organization (NGO) that works on a wide range of social justice issues in Canada, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. It is part of an NGO coalition that has long been advocating for binding legislation to ensure that Canadian mining companies adhere to internationally recognized environmental and human rights standards.
After hearing from civil society and from groups in the global south directly affected by Canadian mining activities, the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade (SCFAIT) issued a report to Parliament in 2005 that called for binding legislation, among its eight recommendations. The federal government launched the roundtable process as a response to the SCFAIT report.
Though the advisory committee to the roundtable process did not achieve consensus on binding legislation, KAIROS and its partners recommend adopting its report as a key initial step towards addressing the issue. Community activists at the news conference urged the government not to delay taking action.
"Every day that passes without accountability means more lives lost or endangered, more habitat destroyed or put at risk, more water polluted," said Thabo Madihlaba an activist with the Environmental Justice Networking Forum in South Africa. "What's needed is for governments to hold companies to account. Our experience is that in countries where voluntary frameworks are in place, they just don't get results".
Anglican Bishop Sue Moxley visited the community of Cerro De San Pedro, Mexico in 2005 as part of a KAIROS church leaders' delegation and saw first hand some of the destruction caused by Metallica Resources Inc., a Toronto-based company that has continued to blast a mine in the historic community despite court orders to stop these operations.
"We're pleased that, by participating in the advisory group and in the preparation of this report, the mining industry acknowledges there is a problem that needs to be addressed," Bishop Moxley said at the news conference. "Now it's time for the federal government to act".
Most Reverend Roger Ebacher, Archbishop of Gatineau and Chairman of the Social Affairs Commission of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the federal government must ensure Canadian mining companies conduct their activities outside Canada in a socially and environmentally responsible manner and in conformity with international human rights standards.
Rusa Jeremic, KAIROS Global Economic Justice Program Coordinator, emphasized that advocating adoption of the roundtable report does not mean that KAIROS is giving up on its call for binding legislation.
"Ultimately, we believe that binding legislation is the only way to ensure an end to flagrant environmental damage and human rights abuses caused when Canadian mining companies launch overseas operations without local consultation and approval or consideration of their impact on local communities and environments," says Rusa Jeremic of KAIROS. "But we've got to start somewhere".
Joan Carling, Director of the Indigenous People's Rights Commission in the Philippines, Mary Corkery, Executive Director of KAIROS and Jim Davis KAIROS Africa Partnerships Program Coordinator also participated in the news conference.
The news conference is one initiative in the national "Dirty Waters" tour that has seen KAIROS partners visit British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec this month to raise public awareness about the disastrous impact of Canadian mining on their communities in general and on the contamination of water in mining operations, in particular.
Ana Maria Alvarado from the community of Cerro de San Pedro, Mexico, Dr. Constancio "Chandu" Claver, Vice-Chair of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance in the Philippines, Rafael Epiayu, executive committee member of the National Organization of Indigenous Peoples of Colombia, and Ravi Rebbapragada, Executive Director of mines, minerals & Peoples (mmP) from Hyderabad, India also participated in the national tour.
The church leaders and several KAIROS partners will be meeting with Members of Parliament and federal officials this week in Ottawa.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Media Contact:
KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives
Adiat Junaid, Communications Coordinator
(416) 463 5312, ext. 223
Email: ajunaid@kairoscanada.org
Website: www.kairoscanada.org