Movement criticizes irresponsibility of IMF and World Bank
Activists Issue 4 Demands & Rebuttal to World Bank’s Defense

 
EDC projects damaged environment: report: NGO group attacks lending body's environmental review standards
PUBLICATION The Ottawa Citizen
DATE Tue 04 Apr 2000
EDITION FINAL
SECTION/CATEGORY News
PAGE NUMBER A5
BYLINE Jack Aubry
STORY LENGTH 632

To access the submission, click here.

Terrie O'Leary
Executive Director for Canada
World Bank, Room D12081
701 19th Street
Washington, DC, 20433

May 20, 2000

Dear Ms. O. Leary,

First, on behalf of the Halifax Initiative Coalition and our international allies, thank-you very much for meeting with us, following the Spring meetings. We appreciate every opportunity to exchange views on issues with you.

I am writing today to formally express our concerns over the proposed Chad-Cameroon Oil and Pipeline project, due for Board consideration on Tuesday, May 23rd. As you know, Directors have been asked to request that the Board be given one more month to review issues and documents related to this project.

World Bank Sanctions Acres International Limited

World Bank News Release No: 2005/33/S

WASHINGTON, Jul. 23, 2004 – The World Bank has sanctioned Acres International Limited (Acres), a Canadian company, as a result of corrupt activities related to its Bank financed contract associated with the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP). Acres was declared ineligible to receive any new Bank financed contracts for a period of three years. This action is part of the Bank’s broad anticorruption efforts initiated by President James Wolfensohn in 1996. More information on the World Bank’s overall anticorruption policies and activities can be found at: http://www.worldbank.org/anticorruption.

Struggle at the top of the Andes

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=9ed53eb0-b0bf-4f9a-ac4b-5b1bf24c3684

May 7, 2004

Mr. Fraser Reilly-King
Halifax Initiative
153 Chapel Street, Suite 104
Ottawa ON KIN 1H5

Re: Compliance program file number 2236-4-1-2003

MEDIA RELEASE
The Export Development Corporation support for dams
criticized in new report by World Commission Report on Dams
 
Coalition demands EDC place a moratorium on dam-building

David Agren
The Ottawa Citizen

Tuesday, August 24, 2004

A Canadian mining company that struck a rich vein of gold in Transylvania has encountered strong opposition from environmental groups and local residents who are organizing an MTV-sponsored concert to try to thwart the development of a giant open-pit mine.

Organizers expect 2,000 protesters and fans to converge on Rosia Montana, a mineral-rich, but impoverished corner of western Romania this weekend for a concert headlined by hip-hop and alternative rock acts and a march to oppose to the project.

Click here for pdf

Significantly destructive projects that violate host country law, international environmental standards and international human rights and labor laws continue to be considered and supported by ECAs. "Race to the Bottom, Take II: An Assessment of Sustainable Development Achievements of ECA-Supported Projects Two Years After OECD Common Approaches Rev 6" presents a civil society proposal for reforming the OECD Common Approaches on Environment and supports the proposal with nine case studies of ECA-backed projects from all over the world.

The projects include the Aracruz Pulp and Paper Factory in Brazil, the BTC pipeline in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey, the Bujagili dam in Uganda, the Camisea oil and gas project in Peru, the Cernavoda 2 Nuclear Reactor in Romania, the Sakhalin II oil and gas project in the Russian Far East, the Sepon Gold and Copper mine in Lao, the Tehri dam in India.

March 5th, 2002

The Right Honourable Jean Chrétien
Prime Minister
Government of Canada
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario
Canada       K1A 0A2
(613) 941-6900

Subject: Cernavoda 2 Nuclear Power Plant project in Romania, EDC export credit approval

Dear Prime Minister Chrétien,

We are writing you to express our deep concern about the possibility that Export Development Canada (EDC) will approve $390 million ($250 million US) in financing for the completion of the second CANDU reactor of the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant (C2) in Romania.

Mining Responsibility

Canadians like to think that our international image is of a flag on a backpack or a blue beret. The real image we've created in some parts of the world is of toxic waste and thugs with guns.

The behaviour of some of our mining companies abroad has been to Canada's shame. It has made this country a party to environmental destruction, corruption, displacement of poor people, child labour, oppression and war. At last, the industry has smartened up and is working with its critics to create rules for social responsibility.

Click here for pdf of "Moving Beyond Voluntarism,"

A Civil Society Analysis of the Government Response to the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade (SCFAIT) 14th report,

A. Ian Gillespie

President

Export Development Canada

151 OConnor

Ottawa, ON  K1A 1K3

September 5, 2003

Dear Mr. Gillespie:

I am writing you with regards to potential EDC involvement in the Yamula Dam, in the Kayseri province of Central Turkey.

Urgently Needed: Mining Ethics

Also available at http://www.kairoscanada.org/e/media/statements/opedMiningEthics051021.asp

July 16, 2007

Karyn Keenan
Program Officer
Halifax Initiative
153 Chapel Street
Ottawa ON KIN 1H5

Dear Ms. Keenan:

I am writing to comment on the recent report, Dirty Business, Dirty Practices: How the Federal Government Supports Canadian Mining, Oil and Gas Companies Abroad, to which you contributed. Firstly, let me acknowledge the efforts that the Halifax Initiative and others have made to participate in the discussion and debate around Canadian government support to Canadian mining and oil and gas companies operating abroad. This is a topic that concerns us all.

December 12, 2002

Mr. James Wolfensohn
President
The World Bank Group
1818 H Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20433 U.S.A.

Dear Mr. Wolfensohn,

We are writing to express dismay at the recent Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman report on the MIGA guarantee of the Bulyanhulu gold mine and to request your urgent intervention.

The CAO is a mechanism that non-governmental organizations have pushed hard to establish. Your personal support for the initiative played a major role in ensuring that the CAO was established. As all parties have observed, the CAO's effectiveness rests on the respect and trust it enjoys amongst the public: integrity, transparency, even¬handedness and thoroughness are thus critical to all aspects of its work.

EMBASSY REPORT
By Jonathan Montpetit

Ottawa Pressured to Crackdown on Canada's International Bad Boys

Extractive firms behaving well in the community where they do business isn?t just an exercise in public relations. It can have a lasting effect on their bottom line when acts of vigilante justice draw attention to abuses and consumers take notice.
Last December, a medical facility in northern Ecuador owned by a Canadian mining company was torched, literally sending more than $20,000 worth of equipment up in smoke.

Article prepared for the 'Global Capital, Global Rights' workshop convened by SFU and UBC. The text discusses civil society efforts in support of Bill C-300, legislation that sought to create accountability mechanisms regarding the provision of government support to Canadian extractive companies that operate overseas.

May 16, 2003

Mr. A. Ian Gillespie

President and Chief Executive Officer

Export Development Canada

Leaked Review Slams World Bank over Canadian Mine

August 22, 2005 - A leaked internal audit assessing the World Bank's involvement in a controversial Canadian gold mine in Guatemala has exposed glaring deficiencies in the due diligence undertaken by the Bank prior to approving a $45 million loan for the mine.

Glamis Gold's Marlin mine in the Western Highlands of Guatemala has been plagued with controversy since the outset. In March, the Compliance Advisory Ombudsman (CAO), the internal auditor for the Bank's private sector lending arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), began an investigation after receiving local complaints about the mine.

Canadian mining companies must respect human rights
We need rights-impact assessments for direct investment in foreign countries

JEAN-LOUIS ROY

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

For many developing countries, Canadian mining companies are their first and often only encounter with Canada. As a country with a proud reputation of promoting international human rights, Canada must ensure this heritage is reflected in the activities of its corporate citizens abroad.

February 5, 2003

Mr. Fraser Reilly-King
National Coordinator
The NGO Working Group on the EDC
Halifax Initiative
153 Chapel Street, Suite 104
Ottawa, Ontario
K1N 1H5

Dear Mr. Reilly-King:

This is in reply to your letter of January 17, 2003, co-signed by the International Rivers Network in which you express concerns about our support for the Three Gorges Hydroelectric Project in China.

Press Conference: Regulating the Activities of Canadian Mining Companies

Who?

• José De Echave, CooperAcción, Peru
• Thomas Akabzaa, Coordinator, Africa Initiative on Mining, Environment and Society, Ghana
• Jacques Saramin Boengkih, Director, Agence Kanak de développement, New Caledonia

When?
Monday, November 13 at 12:45

Where?
Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Amphitheatre SH-2800 200 Sherbrooke Street West

http://www.canada.com/montrealgazette/news/business/story.html?id=05cd5ae9-deb2-473b-91a8-e1ddea06cb47&k=32338

Canadian accord sets ethical mining norms

In a move that could revolutionize global mining, Canadian mining representatives have struck an unprecedented accord with environmentalists and human-rights advocates on ways to ensure mining and oil companies act ethically in their overseas operations.

The pact would create the world's first independent mining ombudsman and sketches out environmental and social standards for projects in the developing world, where standards are often lax or poorly enforced.

It also calls on government to withdraw services, such as diplomatic support and tax breaks, if companies fail to uphold those standards.

Mr. Ian Gillespie
President and CEO
Export Development Canada
151 O'Connor, Ottawa, ON K1A 1K3
Fax: (613) 598-3080

July 15, 2004

Re: EDC Support for the Belene Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in Bulgaria

Dear Mr. Gillespie:

It is my understanding that Export Development Canada (EDC) may have already tentatively agreed to provide financing to the Belene Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) in Bulgaria, if Atomic Energy Canada Limited (AECL) are successful in their bid to win the contract for the nuclear facility.

MEDIA  RELEASE
Canadian churches launch national campaign
to reform the Export Development Corporation
(Oct. 4, 2000 – OTTAWA)  Members of the Canadian Ecumenical Jubilee Initiative (CEJI) concerned about the negative impact that EDC-supported projects have had on people and the environment, launched a campaign today to reform the Export Development Act, the statute governing the Export Development Corporation (EDC). 

Time for the mining industry to clean up its act

Science Matters by David Suzuki

Science Matters is published weekly in newspapers across Canada.

From metals to minerals, we all need natural resources brought up from the earth through mining. But mining can have a huge environmental impact, and some companies are giving the industry a bad name around the world - with Canadian firms being some of the biggest offenders.

Click here for full report in pdf

Reckless Lending Volume I documents the negative impacts of several projects financed by Canada's Export Development Corporation (EDC). These publications demonstrate clearly the need to ensure that EDC, a public agency, be required by law to uphold public policies and international standards protecting human rights, the environment and the social needs of communities.

Canada’s Export Development Corporation puts people and the environment in developing countries at risk. The following case studies document some of the negative impacts of EDC-supported projects. Unlike the World Bank and the US Export Credit Agencies, EDC is not required to undertake assessments of the possible impacts on the environment, human rights or communities when, for example, a dam, a nuclear reactor or a mine is being built. The result, as these case studies show, can be disastrous.

May 9, 2002

The Honourable Pierre Pettigrew
Minister for International Trade
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
Lester B. Pearson Building
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa, Ontario   K1A 0G2

Dear Minister Pettigrew:

I am writing you today on behalf of the NGO Working Group on Export Development Canada to denounce the recent attempted kidnapping of indigenous community leader Sara Imilmaqui in Chile and demand EDC to withdraw its support of the Ralco dam project until the voice of the indigenous Mapuche people is heard.

Churches push for industry ethics rules
Canadians often 'the bad guys' in overseas mining operations
 
Kelly Patterson
The Ottawa Citizen

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Some of Canada's most powerful church leaders are demanding the government take action to ensure Canadian mining and oil firms behave ethically in their overseas operations.

"This is a fundamental ethical issue," says Roger Ebacher, archbishop of Gatineau.

Statement in pdf

The Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability (CNCA) commends the Government of Canada for its ground-breaking consultation on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the Canadian extractive industry in developing countries. The process, which was led by a federal government Steering Committee, is an important step forward.

Pat Cox, President

The European Parliament
Rue Wiertz PHS 11B11
B - 1047 Brussels, Belgium
Fax: 011 32 2 2849363
E-mail: pcox@europarl.eu.int

NEWS RELEASE

World Bank Plan Protects Oil and Mining Industry, but not the Poor:
Canadian NGOs ask, “Where Does Canada Stand?”

No digging up dirt at mine conference    
Closed-Door sessions are norm; Industry's behaviour in 3rd World discussed   
LYNN MOORE   
      
The Gazette   
      
A government-sponsored roundtable concerning corporate responsibility of Canadian mining companies operating in developing countries was subject to media restrictions yesterday, even as industry and watchdog groups urged "transparency and truth."  

Reporters could enter sessions open to the public during which seven-minute presentations were made by interested parties, but were "not welcome to report what is seen or heard," a Foreign Affairs spokesperson said yesterday as the Montreal roundtable opened.        

September 29, 2006

Mr. Fraser Reilly-King
Coordinator
Halifax Initiative Coalition
153 Chapel St., Suite 104
Ottawa, On KIN I H5
Canada

Dear Mr- Reilly-King:

General Observations

The undersigned civil society organizations believe the latest drafts of the Sustainability Policy, Performance Standards, and Disclosure Policy respond usefully to some issues raised previously by many civil society organizations, including, for example, several issues related to gender, resettlement, and climate change.  Many of our most significant concerns, however, remain unaddressed, including centrally important issues related to due diligence, transparency, and accountability, and other issues related to substantive concerns.

http://www.resourceinvestor.com/pebble.asp?relid=30424

Report aims to make Canada global leader of overseas practices

According to a report, Canada could become a global leader of good overseas practices if it follows the recommendations of the Corporate Social Responsibility Advisory Group.

Government’s new Toothless Review Mechanism Underlines why Responsible Mining Bill C-300 is Necessary

Ottawa, October 26, 2010 – One day before the third and final vote in the House of Commons on Bill C-300, the government has launched its Review Process, a dispute resolution mechanism whereby the Extractive Sector Corporate Social Responsibility Counsellor proposes to mediate between aggrieved communities and Canadian mining, oil, and gas companies.

Significant deficiencies render this mechanism inadequate to resolve serious community grievances: the dispute mechanism is voluntary in nature, lacks a transparent fact-finding function and will lead to neither recommendations to government nor to sanctions. Consequently, Bill C-300 remains an important piece of legislation.

July 3, 2003

Mr. Svend Robinson, M.P.
Burnaby-Douglas
4453 Hastings Street
Burnaby, British Columbia
V5C 2K1

Dear Mr. Robinson:

Thank you for your letters of May 15 and 21, 2003 (file JW03-10488), regarding the aluminum smelter and hydroelectric project – “Alumysa” in Chile. I am also replying on behalf of my colleague, the Honourable Bill Graham.

The Canadian government has no involvement in this commercial project, which is subject to Chilean law. I understand that the project is currently undergoing a thorough environmental review, including extensive public consultations.

Government fails to take action: Human rights and environmental abuses abroad go unchecked

Ottawa - The government failed today to take action to end human rights and environmental abuses committed by Canadian mining companies abroad. In Mining in Developing Countries: Corporate Social Responsibility, released today, the government dismissed recommendations proposed by the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade (SCFAIT) to adopt concrete regulatory measures. Instead, it continued to rely on voluntary codes of conduct.

"Voluntary codes of conduct don't work. It's time the government got serious and passed legislation that holds Canadian mining companies accountable for the environmental and human rights violations they commit in other countries," says Ian Thomson of KAIROS. "Anything less is tacit support for business as usual."

CANADA: Gov't Urged to Rein in Mining Sector
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40353

by Am Johal, IPS News
December 7th, 2007

Canadian mining companies continue to come under scrutiny from civil society organisations for international human rights violations and environmental damage that critics say the Canadian government has done little to check.

Canada is a leader in the global mining industry, with almost 60 percent of the world's listed exploration and mining companies. The government supports some foreign mining activity through Export Development Canada, a federal agency.

 Mr. Marcel Massé

Executive Director for Canada

The World Bank

1818 H Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20433 U.S.A.

                                                            May 12, 2003

Dear Mr. Massé,

For Immediate Release

National Debate Opens on Human Rights and Environmental Standards for Mining and Energy Companies.

Canadian civil society organizations are calling on the government to move beyond voluntary measures to ensure that Canadian mining, oil and gas companies uphold international human rights and environmental standards while operating abroad.

This Wednesday, the Canadian government will be launching a series of national roundtables on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the extractives sector. The first roundtable, to take place in Vancouver on June 14-15, will focus on standards and benchmarks. The government is bringing Canadian and international experts together to participate in the discussions.

Canadian mining firms agree to clean up global act

Activists block the entrance to the Canadian embassy in Mexico City last month to protest against a mining project planned by Minera San Javier, a subsidiary of Canadian company Metallica Resources Inc. It wants to extract gold and silver in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosi, which protesters claim will damage the environment. The sign reads: Canada: Don't Pollute Mexico.

OTTAWA - In a move that could revolutionize global mining, Canadian mining representatives have struck an unprecedented accord with environmentalists and human-rights advocates on ways to ensure mining and oil companies act ethically in their overseas operations.

October 20, 2004

Mr. Gilles Ross
Acting President and CEO
Export Development Canada
151 O’Connor Street
Ottawa, ON  K1A 1K3

Dear Mr. Ross,

We recognize the changes that EDC has made over the past few years to enhance transparency, increase consultation and ensure internal compliance.

It is in this context of openness that we are writing to inquire whether you are considering providing any sort of loan, insurance, guarantee or other form of financial assistance for the troubled Inco Goro Nickel mine in New Caledonia, a project which would appear to violate EDC’s environmental guidelines.

EXPORT DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION TRADE FINANCING
130,000 Canadians sign letters addressed to Minister Pettigrew calling for tighter regulation of the Export Development Corporation
For immediate release
(Ottawa, April 3, 2001) – Representatives of indigenous peoples in Chile and Colombia are in Ottawa to speak about the devastating impacts of Export Development Corporation (EDC) trade-financing.  

Click here for pdf

"New Report Highlights Environmental Risks of EDC Deal on CANDU Reactor"

This report, commissioned by European NGOs analyzes the existing environmental impact assessment information and finds it deficient.

July 11, 2002

Mr. Ian Gillespie
President
Export Development Canada
151 O’Connor
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 1K3

Dear Mr. Gillespie,

We are writing to urge you to refrain from extending support for the Cernavoda 2 nuclear reactor in Romania. There are key questions that remain outstanding on this project, questions that need to be answered before a public financial institution approves its support.

Question#1: Is Romania in violation of the Espoo Convention?

Mining Abroad 'Morally Wrong': MPs

■ Alexa McDonough and British MP Steve Pound try to resurrect the call for Canada to enact social responsibility requirements.

By Chris Gillcash

NDP MP Alexa McDonough is calling on Canada to enact standards of corporate social responsibility in overseas mining operations following a trip to Honduras last week to investigate concerns that some Canadian companies working in Honduras are taking advantage of weak regulations and endangering local residents through environmental contamination.

Article concerning lack of accountability in Canada regarding our overseas extractive sector.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline project is likely to go to the World Bank Board of Directors on October 30, 2003. A review of the Environmental Impact Assessment shows it in violation of almost all of World Bank policies.

Letter to Marcel Masse, Canadian Executive Director of the World Bank Group

Executive Summary of the Environmental Impact Assessment

European protests mount around Canadian gold-mine

Ottawa - Monday, November 10th, 2003, Today, in major cities across Europe, hundreds of people gathered outside Canadian embassies to protest Canadian Gabriel Resources proposed open cast gold mine in Rosia Montana, Romania.

The demonstrations took place in Budapest, Amsterdam, Vienna, Bratislava and Prague. In Bucharest, the protestors demanded that the Canadian Ambassador visit the site in the Apuseni Mountains to see the project's impacts for himself.

Canadian Business Journal

BY MATTHEW McCLEARN

COVER DATE: Sept. 2, 2003

Many Canadians cannot point to Lesotho on a map. Some have never heard of it. In the cruel calculus of world politics, business, trade and finance, it is almost completely irrelevant. And yet, this tiny nation landlocked by South Africa must loom large on the minds of executives at Acres International Ltd., an engineering consulting firm based in Oakville, Ont. Its legal representatives are now in the capital, Maseru, for what could be the endgame of the most important battle in the company's 79-year history.

Letter to IFC which is a rebuttal to the IFC's dismissal of the NGO analysis of the environmental impact assessment for the BTC pipeline which found up to 173 partial or full violations of World Bank policies.

Hon. Stockwell Day
Minister of International Trade

Hon. Lawrence Cannon
Minister of Foreign Affairs

Hon. Lisa Raitt
Minister of Natural Resources

Hon. Beverley Oda
Minister of International Cooperation

November 3, 2009

Re: Withdrawal of civil servants from corporate accountability conference

Dear Ministers Day, Cannon, Raitt and Oda:

On October 29, civil servants from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Natural Resources Canada and the Canadian International Development Agency suddenly withdrew their participation from a conference jointly organized by the Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability (CNCA) and the Mining Association of Canada (MAC), which is taking place today. These civil servants withdrew not only as speakers on each of the conference’s panels, but also as registered participants.

THE GALLON ENVIRONMENT LETTER
Canadian Institute for Business and the Environment
Fisherville, Ontario, Canada
Tel. 416 410-0432, Fax: 416 362-5231
Editorial: mailto:editor@gallonletter.ca>editor@gallonletter.ca
Subscriptions: mailto:subscriptions@gallonletter.ca>subscriptions@gallonletter.ca
Vol. 11, No. 12, October 16, 2006

MINING CONSULTATION A VERY STRANGE EXERCISE

Presentation regarding Bill C-300 - An Act respecting Corporate Accountability for the Activities of Mining, Oil or Gas in Developing Countries

Karyn Keenan, Program Officer, Halifax Initiative
October 22, 2009

The Halifax Initiative is a coalition of human rights, environmental, faith-based, development and labour organizations. Our objective is to transform public international financial institutions to achieve poverty eradication, environmental sustainability and the full realization of universal human rights.

My work focuses on the operations of public institutions that provide support to the private sector, in particular the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank Group and Export Development Canada. The latter, a Crown corporation, is Canada’s export credit agency and will be the focus of my comments this morning.

July 14, 2003

President Ricardo Lagos
Government of Chile
C/o Chilean Embassy
50 O’Connor Street
Ottawa, ON  K1P 6L2

Fax: (613) 235-1176

Dear President Lagos:

Re: Noranda’s investment in Chile and the case of Alumysa

On the occasion of your visit to Canada and your meeting with Prime Minister Chrétien, we are writing to you concerning Noranda Inc.’s proposal to build an aluminum smelter in the Aisen region of Southern Patagonia, Chile.

Civil Society and Industry Representatives Agree on Good Overseas Practices

What: Groundbreaking Report on Canadian Mining, Oil and Gas Companies Released

Who:
Tony Andrews – Executive Director, Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada
Gerry Barr – President-CEO, Canadian Council for International Co-operation
Catherine Coumans – Research Coordinator, MiningWatch Canada
Gordon Peeling – President-CEO, Mining Association of Canada

When: Thursday, March 29th at 10.00 am

Where: Charles Lynch Room, Centre Block, Parliament Hill

The final report from the National Roundtables on Corporate Social Responsibility and the Canadian Extractive Industry in Developing Countries will be released at a press conference on Thursday, March 29 at 10:00 am.

Mine Your Own Business
Should Canadian mining companies operating abroad abide by Canadian law?

http://dominionpaper.ca/foreign_policy/2006/09/25/mine_your_.html

by Hillary Bain Lindsay

February 28, 2006

The Honourable James Flaherty
Minister of Finance
Department of Finance Canada
140 O’Connor Street
Ottawa, ON K1A 0G5

Dear Minister Flaherty:

On behalf of the Halifax Initiative Coalition, I would like to congratulate you on your recent appointment as Minister of Finance. Over the past ten years, the Halifax Initiative has developed a good working relationship with the Department of Finance, and in the coming years we hope to strengthen this relationship.

Mandatory NOT Voluntary

Human rights and environmental standards for Canadian mining and energy companies operating abroad needed NOW

 
Agency under fire over dam
PAUL KNOX

The Globe and Mail, November 16, 1999
The photos look idyllic -- a broad river, forested shorelines, thatch-roofed houses here and there along the bank.
Kimy Pernia Domico, an Embera- Katio Indian from northwestern Colombia, lived in one of the houses. He used to fish, until the fish stopped running. He still plants corn, rice, plantains and manioc.

Review of "Damming Evidence: Canada and the World Commission on Dams," by the NGO Working Group on Export Development Canada, a project of the Halifax Initiative.  
 

The last sentence of this new report sums up the authors' position well: "Canada has led in the promotion of hydroelectricity worldwide. It must now lead in the implementation of the World Commission on Dams."
 

September 24, 2006

Professor John Ruggie
UN Special Representative to the Secretary General on Business and Human Rights
Harvard University
John F. Kennedy School of Government
79 John F. Kennedy Street
Cambridge, MA 02138

Dear Professor Ruggie

RE: General Principles on Human Rights Impact Assessments

We are sharing with you our collective views on general principles for a human rights impact assessment. These have arisen from a meeting on community-driven human rights impact assessments, convened by Rights & Democracy[1] in Johannesburg, South Africa, 21-24 September, 2006.

Business as usual in more ways than one: NGOs say World Bank looks set to miss an historic moment to show that it can learn from its mistakes

Ottawa -  As World Bank staff return to work for the second day under the chilling new terrorist alert in the U.S., all efforts are being made to ensure that their work carries forward as it normally would. But NGOs are concerned that the World Bank will today decide to carry on with “business as usual” in its oil, gas and mining operations even though a World Bank commissioned report called for significant changes to how the Bank invests in mining and oil projects.

Canadian mineral industry abroad lawless

Human rights activists want regulations to replace voluntary standards

by Amy Steel for FastForward

When Canadian oil and gas and mining companies operate overseas they are often subject to much weaker local environmental, human rights and labour regulations than they would be if they operated at home.

In some cases that can mean that the rights of local people are trampled upon and the environment is damaged because local governments don’t require Canadian companies to meet higher standards.

The federal government has convened a series of round table forums with industry, activists and members of the general public to discuss what kind of standards should be in place for Canadian companies operating overseas. One of the forums was held in Calgary this week.

July 6, 2004

The Honourable Ralph Goodale
Minister of Finance
L'Esplanade Laurier, East Tower, 21st Floor
140 O'Connor Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0G5

RE: Request for Canada to call for an extension of EIR Comment Period

Dear Minister Goodale,

On June 18, the World Bank Group Management released Draft Management Responses to the World Bank Group Extractive Industries Review, the OED/OEG/OEU Evaluation of Extractive Industries, and the Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman Report. We appreciate that the World Bank Board requested the release of these documents for public comments.

Unfortunately, these drafts were available only in English during almost half of the allotted comment period. Ironically, one of the key recommendations in all three reports is to continue to improve public participation and access to information on various different levels.

MEDIA RELEASE
NGO Report Demonstrates
the Export Development Corporation
Risks the Environment
For immediate release May 14, 2001

Tapping the Veins of the World

McGill Daily
Thursday, October 4th, 2007 | Volume 97, Number 10

By Arthur Phillips and Dave Schecter

In a recent speech at McGill University, former Canadian Prime Minister Joe Clark proclaimed that the world needs more Canada. Which version of Canada was he talking about - the romantic view of Canada as a benevolent force in international affairs, or the overseas extractive industry?

Internal Review Slams World Bank over Lapses at Guatemala Mine - Backgrounder

August 22, 2005

A forthcoming report by the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO), a body responsible for conducting internal reviews at the World Bank’s private sector lending arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), identifies glaring deficiencies in the due diligence the institution conducted for a controversial new gold-mining project in Guatemala. The project, currently under construction by Canadian company Glamis Gold in Guatemala’s indigenous western highlands, has been surrounded by controversy and conflict since before the IFC approved $45 million in support for the project in June 2004. In January of this year, a forty-day protest by local villagers worried about the mine’s potential environmental impacts ended in bloodshed as security forces clashed with protesters, resulting in one death and dozens of injuries.

March 20, 2002

Ms. Melanie Quevillon
NGO Working Group on the EDC
Halifax Initiative/Canada
Suite 104 - 153 Chapel Street
Ottawa, ON K1N 1H5

Dear Ms. Quevlioon:

On behalf of the Right Honourable Jean Chrétien, I would like to thank you for your correspondence regarding Romania's nuclear energy policies.

Please be assured that your comments have been given careful consideration. I am certain that the Honourable Pierre Pettigrew,  Minister for International Trade, to whom you indicate a copy of your correspondence has already been forwarded, will also have appreciated being made aware of your views.

Yours sincerely,

S. Russell
Exectuive Correspondence Officer

Canada's Mining Companies: It's the Government's Turn

Embassy Magazine Editorial -
http://www.embassymag.ca/html/index.php?display=story&full_path=/2007/may/23

An investment newsletter offers the advice that there are still vast profits to be made from extraction investment in the Toronto Stock Exchange "because more and more mining companies are heading to Canada."

September 24, 2006

Professor John Ruggie
UN Special Representative to the Secretary General on Business and Human Rights
Harvard University
John F. Kennedy School of Government
79 John F. Kennedy Street
Cambridge, MA 02138

Dear Professor Ruggie

RE: General Principles on Human Rights Impact Assessments

We are sharing with you our collective views on general principles for a human rights impact assessment. These have arisen from a meeting on community-driven human rights impact assessments, convened by Rights & Democracy[1] in Johannesburg, South Africa, 21-24 September, 2006.

September 16, 2003

Mr. Fraser Reilly King
Halifax Initiative
153 Chapel Street, Suite 104
Ottawa ON KIN 1H5

Dear Mr. Reilly-King:

High Level World Bank Review calls for the phase out of World Bank involvement in oil exploitation and coal mining

Bank Management to ignore recommendations says leaked report

Adopt New Mining Guidelines:Report

Canada should adopt guidelines to improve transparency as well as the environmental and human rights practices of Canadian companies involved in extractive industries in the developing world, says a government-appointed advisory group. It says if these measures are adopted, Canada could become a world leader in Corporate Social Responsibility.

June 15, 2004

Mr. Fraser Reilly-King
Halifax Initiative
153 Chapel Street, Suite 104
Ottawa ON KIN 1H5

Re: Compliance program file number 2236-4-1-2003

Dear Mr. Reilly-King:

This letter is a follow-up to my letter of May 7, 2004 and should serve as the conclusion of the Halifax Initiative complaint.

Your letter of complaint dated July 28, 2003 regarding the Cernavoda 2 nuclear power plant transaction came within EDC's compliance program. It was accepted and followed the compliance program process. A recommendation that a compliance audit be conducted was made to EDC Executive Management (Management) in October of 2003.

Management accepted the recommendation and the work was divided into two parts.

Commenting on The Social and Environmental Sustainability Policy, Performance Standards and Disclosure Policy

Introduction

The undersigned civil society organizations have prepared this joint submission to provide an overview of many of our concerns related to IFC’s Policy on Social and Environmental Sustainability, the Performance Standards, related guidance documents, and the Disclosure Policy. We believe these concerns should be explored and addressed further through IFC’s current consultation and review process.

http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2006-06-08/news_story7.php

GOLD IN THEM GLACIERS

WILL NOTHING STOP CANUCK MINING DISASTERS ABROAD?

By JORGE FERNANDO GARRETON

Santiago, Chile -- T.O.-based mining giant Barrick Gold will move mountains - literally - to get to buried treasures of silver and gold. But three glaciers?

The Halifax Initiative is a coalition of human rights, environmental, faith-based, development and labour organizations. Our objective is to transform the international financial institutions to achieve poverty eradication, environmental sustainability and the full realization of universal human rights.

The Halifax Initiative supports the review of Export Development Canada’s Environmental Policy and disclosure practices, and is grateful for the opportunity to provide input to the review process.

1. Project environmental and social standards
a. Compliance

June 10, 2003

Dear Fund Manager,

We are writing to express our concerns about your holdings in Gabriel Resources Ltd. and ask you to press for change at the AGM next week.

New agreement for financing renewable technology a Trojan horse for environmental destruction, NGOs say

September 7, 2005 Brussels, Belgium - A new agreement to finance renewable energy projects could be a Trojan horse that will lead to environmental destruction rather than environmental sustainability, warns a new NGO report. NGOs say the inclusion of large dams under the agreement is a betrayal of an otherwise positive effort to promote sustainable energy technologies like wind, solar, and geothermal.

"By extending special export subsidies to large dam projects, the OECD governments are turning an environment initiative into a Trojan horse for environmental destruction," said Peter Bosshard, Policy Director of International Rivers Network and co-author of the report.

African Civic Groups Urge Canada Government To Rein In Mine Cos

09-25-06 08:17 AM EST

http://news.morningstar.com/news/DJ/M09/D25/200609250817DOWJONESDJONLINE000259.html?Cat=AfrMidEast

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- The African Civil Societies Organizations, representative of all national civil societies on the continent, have called on the Canadian government to adopt mandatory mechanisms to regulate the overseas activities of its mining companies.

It issued a memorandum after a meeting at which several mining companies were seriously implicated in cases of human rights violations and environmental abuses such as destruction of farmlands, water resources, protected forests, injuries and threats to death, African CSOs said.

March 17, 2003

Mr. Fraser Reilly-King and Co-signatories
NGO Working Group on the EDC
Halifax Initiative
104-153 Chapel Street
Ottawa, Ontario
KIN 1H5

Dear Mr. Reilly-King and Co-signatories:

Thank you for your e-mail and letters of January 17, 2003, with which you enclosed a copy of the report entitled Human Rights Dammed Off at Three Gorges, concerning the Three Gorges Hydroelectric Project in China. I am also replying on behalf of my colleague the Minister for International Trade, the Honourable Pierre S. Pettigrew.

We have taken note of the allegations in your report and will continue to monitor developments. In its human rights dialogue with China, Canada works to promote improved governance and democratic development. We raise concerns about the human rights situation with the Chinese leadership at every available opportunity.

Government Squanders Opportunity to Hold Extractive Companies to Account
(Ottawa- March 26, 2009) Today’s government announcement on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has squandered the important consensus reached by industry and civil society organizations on how to ensure that the overseas operations of Canadian extractive companies adhere to international environmental and human rights standards. Almost two years ago, the multi-stakeholder Advisory Group to the National Roundtables on CSR in the Extractive Sector submitted its consensus report to the Canadian government. Today’s long-awaited response ignores the report’s central recommendations.

Canadian mining firms agree to clean up global act

Activists block the entrance to the Canadian embassy in Mexico City last month to protest against a mining project planned by Minera San Javier, a subsidiary of Canadian company Metallica Resources Inc. It wants to extract gold and silver in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosi, which protesters claim will damage the environment. The sign reads: Canada: Don't Pollute Mexico.

OTTAWA - In a move that could revolutionize global mining, Canadian mining representatives have struck an unprecedented accord with environmentalists and human-rights advocates on ways to ensure mining and oil companies act ethically in their overseas operations.

August 23, 2004

Mr. Fraser Reilly-King Co-ordinator,
NGO Working Group on EDC
Halifax Initiative
104-153 Chapel Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1N 1H5

Dear Mr. Reilly-King:

This is in response to your letter of July 15 to A. Ian Gillespie, President and CEO of Export Development Canada (EDC) concerning potential EDC support for the completion of the Belene Nuclear Power Plant in Bulgaria. EDC has been aware of the potential project as it is part of Bulgaria's overall strategy for the development of its energy sector. As indicated in your letter, we understand that the project is also at the preliminary bid stages and may represent a significant opportunity for Canadian exporters, including AECL, should they choose to bid and if they are successful.

G8’s IMPOTENCE IN REFORMING THEIR EXPORT CREDIT AGENCIES
NGOs call on G8 governments to soon adopt high level binding common environmental guidelines for their Export Credit Agencies.

As it Happens, CBC, March 29th, 2007
http://www.cbc.ca/radioshows/AS_IT_HAPPENS/20070329.shtml

Prepared by the NGO Working Group on the Export Development Corporation, a project of the Halifax Initiative

The Canadian Export Development Corporation (EDC) is the main source of publicly supported export financing in Canada, designed to complement the private financial sector wherever possible. A federal Crown corporation, EDC provides Canadian exporters with financing products to help their customers, and with commercial and political risk insurance, particularly for higher-risk and emerging markets. In 1998, EDC worked with 4,183 customers in 200 countries, helping Canadian companies to generate nearly $35 billion in sales and foreign investments.

May 29, 2002

Mr. Ian Gillespie
President and Chief Executive Officer
Export Development Canada
151 O’Connor
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 1K3

Dear Mr. Gillespie:

I am writing you today on behalf of the NGO Working Group on Export Development Canada to ask if Export Development Canada (EDC) is considering supporting the following projects:

1.   Alumysa aluminum smelter in southern Chile (Noranda)

2.   Tambo Grande gold mine in Peru (Manhattan Minerals)

3.   Rosia Montana Gold Corporation gold mine in Romania (80% owned by Gabriel Resources Canada)

Karyn Keenan, of the Halifax Initiative, was featured on Avi Lewis' "On the Map" on June 20 talking about the National Roundtables on Extractive Industries. The focus was on a controversial mining project in Guatemala being operated by Skye Resources.

Focus on Skye Resources (Part 1)
Focus on the National Roundtables (Part 2)

Probe International’s Brief on Bill C-31: An Act to amend to Export Development Act...
Presented to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade

October 18, 2001
by Patricia Adams

October 22, 2003

Mr. Fraser Reilly-King
Halifax Initiative
153 Chapel Street, Ste 104
Ottawa ON KIN 1H5

Re: Compliance program file number 2236--1-1-2003

Dear Mr. Reilly-King:
With this letter, I would like to report to you the status of the compliance program review of your letter of complaint dated July 28, 2003.

To reiterate, in your letter, you alleged that Export Development Canada (EDC) "violated the spirit of its disclosure policy, environmental review directive [(ERD)] and Code of Business Ethics" in relation to the Cernavoda 2 nuclear power plant transaction in Romania. You set out specific sections of each policy and proffered substantiating information for the allegations of non-compliance. You saw my role "as interpreting these policies in ways that ensure that they are implemented to their best intent."

European protests mount around Canadian gold-mine

Ottawa - Monday, November 10th, 2003, Today, in major cities across Europe, hundreds of people gathered outside Canadian embassies to protest Canadian Gabriel Resources proposed open cast gold mine in Rosia Montana, Romania.

The demonstrations took place in Budapest, Amsterdam, Vienna, Bratislava and Prague. In Bucharest, the protestors demanded that the Canadian Ambassador visit the site in the Apuseni Mountains to see the project's impacts for himself.

The case against Candu, if only Parliament would talk about it

Susan Riley
The Ottawa Citizen
Wednesday, October 15, 2003

Prime Minister Jean Chrétien will be trying to sell more Candu nuclear reactors to China when he travels abroad next week. Which raises the question: When did we have the national debate on whether we should be continuing to promote nuclear power?

September 10, 2007

Ms. Karyn Keenan and Mr. Denis Tougas
c/o The Halifax Initiative
153 Chapel Street
Ottawa Ontario
K1N 1H5

Dear Ms. Keenan and Mr. Tougas:

Thank you for your recent letter, dated June 8, which was faxed to us and posted on the Halifax Initiative Web site.

Brussels, 26 March 2010

Mr. Steve Tvardik
Head, Export Credits
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
Paris, France

Dear Mr. Tvardik,

Thank you for the opportunity to provide comments on the on-going review of the Sector Understanding on Export Credits for Renewable Energies and Water Projects (Sector Understanding) by the Participants to the Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits (Participants).

We have outlined our comments starting with our overall concern about ECA financing of fossil fuels and then following this up with specific inputs to sections of the Sector Understanding. It ends with a short conclusion bringing together the main issues to concentrate on.

Overall Issue: The need to end fossil fuel financing

http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/6-6-30/43333.html

By Joan Delaney
Epoch Times Victoria Staff

Picture this: a fertile valley at the foot of the Chilean Andes, bathed in pristine water from three massive glaciers which nourish the grape, avocado and olive groves below. Now imagine if this scene included a huge open-pit mine built to extract 17.6 million ounces of gold and silver deposits that are buried beneath the glaciers—a first in the annals of mining.

Commenting on The Social and Environmental Sustainability Policy, Performance Standards and Disclosure Policy

Introduction

The undersigned civil society organizations have prepared this joint submission to provide an overview of many of our concerns related to IFC’s Policy on Social and Environmental Sustainability, the Performance Standards, related guidance documents, and the Disclosure Policy. We believe these concerns should be explored and addressed further through IFC’s current consultation and review process.

James Wolfensohn

President

World Bank Group

1818 H Street NW

Washington, DC 20433

July 7, 2003

NGOs welcome changes to policies at Export Development Canada - Implementation still a concern

Tuesday, November 8, 2005 (Ottawa) - A coalition of 23 non-governmental organizations today welcomed the changes Export Development Canada made to its revised policies for taking account of the environment and disclosing information to the public. Five years ago the Halifax Initiative Coalition exposed countless environmentally devastating projects being financed by the Crown Corporation. At that time, EDC had no environmental policies in place.

"EDC has taken some positive steps forward in terms of transparency and addressing the environment over the past six years," said Catherine Coumans of MiningWatch Canada, a member of the Halifax Initiative, "and they should be congratulated for those changes."