Marcopper Copper Mines

The Philippines
Placer Dome Inc.
(Placer Dome was acquired by Barrick Gold Corp. in 2006)
EDC: US$1.36 million loan
ADB: US$40 million loan
CPP: $351 million (Barrick)

November 9, 2006

Canatuan Polymetallic Mine

The Philippines
TVI Pacific Inc.
CIDA: Canada Fund (approx. $31,000)

November 9, 2006

Letter to John Ruggie re HRIA - September 24, 2006

This letter to John Ruggie, UN Special Representative to the Secretary General on Business and Human Rights, outlines the principles that individuals involved in Rights & Democracy's Human Rights Impact Assessment for communities feel are essential to any HRIA developed by governments or companies.

September 24, 2006

IFI Backgrounders for the National Roundtables on Extractives and CSR

In preparation for the 2006 National Roundtables on Corporate Social Responsibility and Extractives in Developing Countries, the Halifax Initiaitive has prepared three backgrounders on IFI issues related to the Roundtables. PDF versions are available in the below links.

• Issue brief on the Private Sector Lending and the World Bank Group - IFC and MIGA
• Issue brief on The World Bank and Extractive Industries Review - Lessons Learned (and promptly ignored)
• Issue brief on The International Finance Corporation's Performance Standards - the new 'gold standard' or 'fool's gold'?

• Policy brief on "Export Development Canada and Human Rights - Risk or Rights?"

June 15, 2006

Pillaged Lives: Third World Debt and Global Institutions

An interactive citizens' guide exploring the links among Debt, Communities, Environment and Global Institutions. And offering suggestions for what YOU can do. CD-ROM available from Halifax Initiative Coalition for $5.00

May 5, 2006

Press Release - Tuesday, October 18, 2005

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.

October 18, 2005

Monthly Issue Update - August 31, 2005

This month: *Leaked Review Slams World Bank over Canadian Mine *G8 Debt Proposal Goes to World Bank and IMF Boards September 23-25 *World Bank and IMF Conditionality Reviews Set to Fail, Government Action Urged *JUST THE FACTS - The Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO): What is it?

August 31, 2005

Letter to IFC Executive Directors re Glamis Gold mine - May 31, 2005

This letter to the Executive Directors of the World Bank underscores the completely inadequate due diligence the International Finance Corporation conducted with respect to the Marlin Mine project in Guatemala, for which it provided $45 million, and asks for their assistance in clarifying a number of issues with respect to indigenous rights, consultation, the environmental impact assessment, and the rationale for an investment that would bring little benefit to Guatemala.

May 31, 2005

Trade liberalization and impacts on garment workers

On a global basis, the apparel industry, together with the textile industry, is the largest source of industrial employment in the world. Clothing and textile are the most globalized industries in the world, with export production occurring in every corner of the globe. The apparel industry worldwide, employing over 7.5 million people, has drastically restructured in recent years with production moving from developed to developing countries.

June 18, 2003

Action Alert Archives : June 13, 2003

The 21st Congress on the International Commission on Large Dams (ICOLD) was held in Montreal, Canada, June 16-20 2003. Over 1200 representatives from mining and hydro companies were present to develop a new Code of Ethics for the industry. However, Canada has yet to follow up on the progressive recommendations put forth by the World Commission on Dams (WCD), despite contributing over $100 000 towards its process.

June 13, 2003

International sign-on to ICOLD President - June 13, 2003

This letter calls on the President of the International Commission on Large Dams to Implement into the ICOLD Code of Ethics the recommendations of the World Commission on Dams (June 2003)

June 13, 2003

Press Responses : May 27, 2002

Activist links farm woes, globalization Privatization seen as failing farmers

May 27, 2002

Press Release - Thursday, September 27, 2001

New evidence links Canada to death of Tanzanian miners

September 27, 2001

Action Alert Archives : March 2001

Second Anniversary of the passage of the Tobin Tax motion in the House of Commons. Send a message to MPs and the Finance Minister signalling that they aren't doing enough to build political support to implement a tax on currency speculation.

March 24, 2001

Action Alert Archives : March 5, 2001

International Legislators and Parliamentarians Call for Tobin-Style Taxes - Launched April 2000. As of March 5, 2001 537 Parliamentarians from 25 countries have signed the declaration.

March 5, 2001

The Dakar Manifesto

Africa: From Resistance to Alternatives Dakar 2000: From Resistance to Alternatives Dakar, Senegal, 11-17 December 2000

December 11, 2000

Action Alert Archives : May 2000

Over the years, the Export Development Corporation (EDC) has funded countless projects that have had devastating impacts on the environment. EDC is exempt from the Access to Information Act and the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act. Write letters to the Minister of Environment and the Prime Minister asking that EDC have social, environmental and human rights assessments for the projects that have significant potential or known impacts, and disclosure of project-specific information.

May 24, 2000

Press Responses : Tuesday, April 4, 2000

EDC projects damaged environment: NGO Report attacks lending body's environmental review standards (Ottawa Citizen)

April 4, 2000

Press Responses : Saturday, March 18, 2000

Saturday, March 18, 2000 - Crown Corp is owed $22 billion for mystery loans: $2.8 billion in bad debts is almost 3 times amount of Shovelgate grants; Even Canada's auditor general doesn't know who owes what (Ottawa Citizen)

March 19, 2000

Press Responses : Monday, November 16, 1999

Agency under fire over dam (Globe and Mail)

November 16, 1999

NGO WORKING GROUP ON EDC (November 1999): Canada's Export Development Corporation - Financing Disaster

In 1999, Amnesty International raised alarms about the killing of four indigenous people protesting a hydroelectric dam in Colombia that has devastated their food source and, if completed, would flood most of their land.

November 11, 1999

April 15, 1999: Vote campaign reports

Congratulations to everyone who made the historic passage of the Tobin tax motion possible!

April 15, 1999

Paper on the Feasibility of a Foreign Exchange Transactions Tax (March 1999)

There is virtually no formal infrastructure for trading foreign exchange. Traders in major banks around the world communicate directly with each other or through a broker. By contrast, the infrastructure for settling foreign exchange trades is becoming increasingly formal, centralised and regulated. This is due to new technology subject to increasing returns to scale and to cooperation between trading and central banks to reduce and eliminate settlement risk.

March 27, 1999

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