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.
James Wolfensohn
President
World Bank
1818H Street, NW
Washington, DC 20433
USA
August 21, 2003
Dear Mr. Wolfensohn,
The fight against corruption is a central part of the World Bank mission to reduce poverty and improve the quality of people's lives.
The World Bank response to the loss of Acres International's appeal in the Lesotho Highlands Water Project of Friday, August 15th, 2003, will be indicative of how the World Bank approaches the fight against corruption.
We urge you to debar Acres International from future Bank-financed contracts. We also ask that all existing World Bank contracts with Acres be subject to review to determine whether Acres bid was carried out in a legal manner.
January 31, 2007
European protests mount around Canadian gold-mine
Ottawa -Â 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.
CBC’s “The Current”
June 18, 2003
Damming Evidence: Canada and the World Commission on Dams
It's the most expensive construction project in the history of the human race, and one of the largest.
The Three Gorges dam project in China won't be finished until 2009, but this month it passed a symbolic landmark. Engineers closed the dam's sluice gates and for the first time the mighty Yangtze was blocked. The enormous reservoir behind the dam is now starting to fill with water.
Report seeks penalties against unethical Canadian mining operations abroad
OTTAWA (CP) _ Canadian mining and oil companies should have their government financing and other benefits withdrawn if they are found to have acted unethically or committed human rights violations while operating abroad, a government-led committee on corporate social responsibility says.
For PDF, click here.
Terrie O’Leary
Executive Director for Canada
World Bank
1818 H Street
Washington D.C.
12 July, 2000
Dear Ms. O’Leary,
I am writing to express our pleasure that the Board of Directors of the World Bank has cancelled its support for the Qinghai component of the Western China Poverty Reduction Project. This cancellation sends a much needed signal, following the approval of the Chad-Cameroon Oil and Pipeline project, that the Board will work to ensure that the World Bank accountability mechanisms are used to screen out projects that cannot meet even its own participatory, sustainable development standards.
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."
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.