TORONTO: UNDERMINE CAPITAL! - Mar 6-9
On March 6-9, 2005 in Toronto, the self-proclaimed mining finance capital of the world, hundreds of the world’s biggest players in mineral and resource exploration will be present for the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada’s Annual Convention and Trade Show – and we’ll be there to oppose them!
Undermine Capital! : Building Resistance to Destructive Canadian Mining
On March 6-9, 2005 in Toronto, the self-proclaimed mining finance capital of the
world, hundreds of the world’s biggest players in mineral and resource
exploration will be present: from large corporations, small startup firms, to
provincial, federal, and international governments, all for the Prospectors and
Developers Association of Canada’s Annual Convention and Trade Show - and we’ll
be there to oppose them!
Continued resistance is urgently needed against greedy mining corporations and
corrupt governments who converge to repress and exploit Indigenous people,
workers, peasants, and the poor. Communities and people directly affected by
Canadian mining need control of their resources, economy, health, and
environment. Resistance to destructive Canadian mining is building, and the
Undermine Capital Project aims to highlight the depth and strength of this
resistance with events timed to coincide with the PDAC Convention.
Events scheduled:
1. Daily leafleting of conference delegates at the Metro Toronto
Convention Centre (open 10-5 daily from March 6-9). We also welcome other
groups to organize their own events and actions.
2. Wednesday, March 9 (morning): Public press conference, representatives
from community-based struggles and support organizations.
3. Wednesday, March 9 (noon): Picket and speak out at the closing of the
PDAC conference.
Interested in getting involved? Please email: underminecapital@yahoo.ca
Organizations can sign on to support the project by emailing the above address
(underminecapital@yahoo.ca). Please sign on, as we aim to build the broadest
possible front against destructive Canadian mining.
Organized by the Undermine Capital Project
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What is the PDAC Convention?
According to the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (www.pdac.ca)
who organize this convention “The PDAC International Convention, Trade Show and
Investors Exchange has evolved into the premier event of its kind, bringing
together the wide range of players involved in mineral exploration from all
parts of the globe.”
‘Mineral exploration’ around the globe is one way of saying the wholesale
exploitation and destruction of lands and resources on Indigenous territory and
in the Global South (Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Oceania), while
communities and workers are exploited. The way that mining functions today
hurts people and the environment, while wealth and power piles up for large
corporations and repressive governments - ‘the wide range of players’ in
mining.
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What is Canada’s Involvement?
Canada and Canadian corporations are world leaders in mining. Mining
technology, capital, and corporations are Canada’s competitive advantage in
today’s imperialist world system of global capitalism. Canada’s laws permit
mining companies to have limited liability in Canada for their crimes abroad,
while at home Indigenous lands are pillaged for profit. Canadian mining firms
can be found throughout the world, and are involved in such infamous and widely
condemned projects as:
. Alcan in Kashipuri people’s territory in Kashipur state, India
. Barrick Gold in Waridjuri Indigenous people’s territory in Australia
. Glamis Gold in Mayan Indigenous people’s territory in the Western
Highlands, Guatemala
. Inco in Kanak Indigenous people’s territory in New Caledonia
. Manhattan Minerals in the community of Tambogrande, Peru
. TVI Pacific in Subadon Indigenous people’s territory in Mindanao,
Philippines
Canadian firms hire mercenaries and employ state security forces to attack the
people, with bloody consequences. In just the latest example, on January 11,
2005 Guatemalan security forces brutally murdered Raul Castro Bocel, a
Maya-Kakchiquel activist defending Indigenous lands from Glamis Gold’s
incursions.
(More info on these and other struggles is available at www.miningwatch.ca. A
more complete brochure with details of ongoing struggles will be available
soon.)
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informative article on the subject:
February 2005
Canadian mining around the world
On Nov. 3, 2004, Canada’s Ambassador to Guatemala, James Lambert, wrote an
article in Prensa Libre, in which he described the economic benefits and the
social and environmental responsibility demonstrated by the mining industry in
Canada. The history of mining in Canada, as with other industries that extract
natural resources, is full of conflicts and damaging activities by Canadian
companies. In Canada many advances have been made in legislation and controls
that protect the environment and communities, the mining companies did not take
the lead in this process. It was civil society that pushed our government to
make the needed changes. Nevertheless conflicts and natural disasters continue.
We do not know how the Ambassador came up with the figures on the positive
impact of mining on 200 aboriginal communities in Canada. There are fewer than
twenty aboriginal communities in Canada that have negotiated agreements with
mining companies. The majority of aboriginal communities have been impacted
negatively by mining activity, often with ensuing environmental damage and
little employment created.
But, as stated in the Nov. 4th issue of Prensa Libre, the situation of the
mining industry in Canada has little to do with the present or future situation
in Guatemala, where mining companies are not governed by the same norms as in
Canada. Examining the history of Canadian mining companies in Guatemala and in
other countries of the South sheds more light on the current impact of Canadian
mining companies in Guatemala. We therefore wish to show to the Guatemalan
people a small part of the history of Canadian mining in the world, which is a
dirty history.
In Guatemala, the documents of the Historical Clarification Commission state
that during the years of violence, Exmibal, a subsidiary of the large Canadian
corporation INCO, was implicated in some violent and repressive acts. (INCO
recently sold Exmibal to Skye Resources, another Canadian company.)
More recently, in 1995, an ecological disaster of major dimensions occurred at
the Omai gold mine in Guyana belonging to the Canadian company Cambior. Four
point five million cubic metres of residual minerals, highly contaminated with
cyanide, escaped from a dam into the Essequibo River of Guyana. Eighty
kilometres of the river were declared an environmental disaster zone. Fifty
percent of the local residents, the majority of whom were indigenous, suffered
health impacts. For example, children suffered from fainting and skin lesions,
there was extensive contamination of water sources; aquatic life was lost; and
three cases of death are believed to be the result of poisoning.
Today, the mining company, Glamis Gold, is developing the Marlin mine in the
Department of San Marcos, Guatemala and manages the San Martin mine in
Honduras. In San Martin negative impacts on the health of children, such as
skin diseases and the loss of hair have been documented. A report commissioned
by Caritas-Honduras documented the presence of heavy metal in the water, above
acceptable levels. Communities near San Martin, with the support of Cardinal
Oscar Andres Rodriguez, have protested the presence of the mine since 2002.
As the final example, we mention the case of Peru, where Canada is the largest
international investor in the mining industry. Working against the desires of
the community, the Manhattan Minerals Corporation wanted to develop a mine in
the region of Tambogrande. After demonstrations of up to 10,000 people, the
Peruvian government rejected Manhattan’s proposal and the company immediately
sold its interests to look for opportunities in other countries. Why did the
people of Tambogrande react so strongly against this proposal? They did not
want to lose their water source, nor their mango and lime harvests, nor their
homes. The development of the mine would have meant the destruction of their
way of life. At the national level, the results of a Canadian-Peruvian
research project, has linked mines in Peru to the contamination of water and
soils and the destruction of flora and fauna. Furthermore, there was not
sufficient control over adherence to legal requirements. As a result,
conflicts and tensions within local governments increased and there were no
major economic benefits for the communities.
These are some examples of impacts of the Canadian mining industry outside of
Canada. As well, there are many well-documented examples from the Philippines,
Indonesia and Africa, of damaging impacts of Canadian mining operations. For
Canadian social and environmental organizations, the situation we have
described is shameful. We want the Guatemalan people to know that we are
struggling here in Canada, to alert the Canadian people of this reality. We
also call on our government to stop its direct and indirect support of
companies that exploit the resources of other countries in order to benefit
Canadian and other investors.
We call on our government to recognize that Glamis Gold Ltd. was granted a
mining concession by the Guatemalan government without an adequate consultative
process. This clearly violated ILO Convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal
Peoples, of which Guatemala is a signatory. We call for immediate cancellation
of the mining concession.
We have a dream that in the future Guatemalans will benefit from their own
natural resources. We hope that, the mining industry develops in a manner that
respects the right of all Guatemalan people to determine their own development
path that ensures the dignity and respect of the Guatemalan people and the
environment.
Sincerely,
Ramsey Hart, Guatemala-Canada Solidarity Network
Jaimie Kneen, MiningWatch Canada
Grahame Russell, RightsAction/ Derechos en Accion
Ernie Schibli, The Social Justice Committee