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The earth provides resources but they must be used with the common good in mind.

Mining Company Disasters

November 21, 2020 - GCCM Article
In 2015 a dam managed by the mining company Samarco (a subsidiary of Vale S.A) burst in Brazil in the state of Minas Gerais, in the municipality of Mariana. The swath of mud big enough to fit 16,000 Olympic swimming pools kills 19 people and destroys entire communities.
A little more than three years later, a different dam managed by the mining company, Vale S.A., burst again the same state of Brazil, Minas Gerais, in the municipality of Brumadinho. But this time, the loss of human life is exponentially worse. The avalanche kills more than 250 people, burying “women, men, animals, and vegetation.”

                      Click on the image below to learn more and see a 78 sec video
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The long struggle for rights and justice.

​Looking Ahead: Proposals for a Just and Inclusive Recovery

June 23, 2020 - Tamarack Institute

​Civil society groups are mobilizing to ensure that recovery efforts don’t revert us back to the old normal, but rather accelerate us towards a more just and inclusive future. A coalition of over 200 organizations across Canada has developed a 
Just Recovery for All framework, which includes 6 guiding principles:
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  1. Put people’s health and well-being first, no exceptions.
  2. Strengthen the social safety net and provide relief directly to people.
  3. Prioritize the needs of workers and communities.
  4. Build resilience to prevent future crises.
  5. Build solidarity and equity across communities, generations, and borders.
  6. Uphold Indigenous rights and work in partnership with Indigenous Peoples.
                          Read More...

Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise

May 20, 2020 - D&P
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The Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise, lacking the power to compel testimony or the submission of documents, cannot effectively investigate allegations of human rights abuse linked to Canadian mining, energy, and garment companies’ global operations and supply chains.

Be part of the solution!
Sign the e-petition to the House of Commons.   Also see 
 #power2investigate #CAN4mHRDD

The Liberal Government promised to address this critical justice issue, but to date little has been done. Help call on government to do the right thing. See earlier posting (April 25, 2019) on this issue below. - FVC 

The divestment movement is working!

February 26, 2020 - 350.org
We all need to speak up and act. It is not a futile action.

'Completely unsustainable': How streaming and other data demands take a toll on the environment

January 6, 2020 - CBC - Thomas Daigle ​

Tech firms look for solutions as data centres use huge amounts of power to fuel streaming and social media.
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For those of us binge-watching TV shows, installing new smartphone apps or sharing family photos on social media over the holidays, it may seem like an abstract predicament.
The gigabytes of data we're using — although invisible — come at a significant cost to the environment. Some experts say it rivals that of the airline industry...

How much power does it take?
Anders Andrae, a researcher at Huawei Technologies Sweden whose estimates are often cited, told CBC News in an email he expects the world's data centres alone will devour up to 651 terawatt-hours of electricity in the next year. That's nearly as much electricity as Canada's entire energy sector produces.  ....LEARN MORE 

​Climate emissions from tropical forest damage 'underestimated by a factor of six'

November 5, 2019 - The Guardian
Greenhouse gas emissions caused by damage to tropical rainforests around the world are being underestimated by a factor of six, according to a new study.

“Frankly, inside the environment movement there has been a huge push to get a handle on coal-based emissions, and the role of transport and airplanes. That’s important, but the forgotten child has been forests and woodlands,” Watson said.
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Learn More

Assessment Reports on Biodiversity - Video

September 26, 2019 - Our Lady of Hope Province
In March 2018, IPBES launched four Assessment Reports on #biodiversity and #EcosystemServices - one each for #Africa, the #Americas, #AsiaPacific and #Europe and #Central Asia. Together they are the most important expert contribution of the past decade to the state of knowledge about nature and nature's contributions to people.  ​

Pledge To “Wipe Right”: Use Recycled Toilet Paper

August 28, 2019
(USA) National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) is raising awareness about how a simple product like toilet paper is devastating our forests and is calling on consumers to use recycled toilet paper in order to conserve that resource. ​Canada has the same problem.
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As a conscious toilet paper consumer, pledge to:
  • Continue the fight to protect our environment and our forests by purchasing and using toilet paper made from recycled or other sustainable materials
  • Share information about sustainable toilet paper brands and ways consumers can minimize the impact of their toilet paper purchases
  • Look for ways to avoid using other forest — and climate-harming tissue products
  • Encourage toilet paper manufacturers that don’t provide sustainable toilet paper options to improve their practices
The scorecard above gives an indication of products which score higher, i.e. use recycled paper. Canada has brands that manufacturer toilet paper from recycled paper. One product is Cascade. Check the packaging before you buy and be a conscious toilet paper consumer. The little things make a difference!
                                               Take the NRDC PLEDGE.

​ELDORADO - The Struggle for Skouries

August 21, 2019 
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Processing Plant in the pristine forest of Skouries
‘ELDORADO — The Struggle For Skouries‘ is a prize-winning documentary about the civic struggle against destructive resource extractionism at Europe’s largest mining project located in Halkidiki, Northern Greece.
​
Chronicling the resistance against high-risk gold mining and the abusive criminalization of the anti-mining movement by the Greek government, it is a compelling document of neoliberal ideals and human rights abuses playing out in one of the most crisis-ridden countries of Europe. The documentary is partly based on SOMO report ‘Fool’s Gold’.

It is important to note here that the Canadian Vancouver-base mining company Eldorado Gold is the primary developer of this mining site. The documentary shows the resistance against high-risk gold mining and the criminalization of the anti-mining movement by the Greek government and was financially supported by Eldorado. 
Update: New government in Greece offers hope for Eldorado’s stalled gold mine (July 24, 2019)
In September, the company said it would seek 750 million euros (US$836 million) from the government in damages it attributed to the delays.   © Thomson Reuters 2019

​Nestlé's sucking Ontario dry

August 15, 2019 - SumOfUs
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4.7 million litres of fresh water per day. That’s how much Nestlé has been pumping out of a small community in Ontario everyday for the last three years -- without a permit. 

Local Indigenous communities have demanded Nestlé stop operations on their territory, while their residents lack clean water, and yet the mega-corporation keeps greedily pumping the water out.
Stop the greed - Help TAKE ACTION

​What should an effective corporate watchdog look like? 

June 29, 2019 - Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability 
Government wants you to believe that they have fulfilled their promise of appointing an Ombudsperson, but we know the position has no power to investigate. - FVC

What does a corporate watchdog need to be effective? Canada’s new mandate for the Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise entirely misses the mark. Thankfully, leading legal experts drafted a model order in council to spell it out.          Learn More Here

Action: Make this an election issue

​With deadline looming, charges recommended in Mount Polley mines disaster

June 29, 2019 - Globe and Mail
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5 years later: No charges, no jobs, no trust
With the five-year deadline for charges just weeks away, The Globe and Mail has learned joint task force on the 2014 tailings-pond breach at the Mount Polley mine in central British Columbia sent its recommendations to the Public Prosecution Service of Canada in early April.

It is now up to the Crown to decide whether to approve the charges.     READ MORE
In August, 2014, Mount Polley’s massive tailings dam breached at the copper and gold mine in B.C.’s Cariboo Region near Quesnel Lake, sending about 24 million cubic metres of waste and mine water into nearby waterways.
JONATHAN HAYWARD/THE CANADIAN PRESS

An expert panel concluded the failure of the dam was a preventable accident due to a flawed dam design. ​Five years later and the mining company has yet to take responsibility or face charges. Let us remember this when news mines are being proposed in vulnerable places. It's incumbent on the Crown to do the right thing and see that the mining company takes responsibility - FVC 

Is China's fishing fleet taking all of West Africa's fish? 

May 16, 2019 - BBC News
The BBC investigates illegal and unsustainable fishing off the west coast of Africa to find out how one of the most fertile ecosystems on earth has been pushed to the brink.
Correspondent: Paul Adams Video Journalist: Charlotte Pamment (subscribe HERE http://bit.ly/1rbfUog)

Ombudsperson:  What good is a watchdog with no teeth?

Earth defenders around the world often face violence for defending their rights and the planet. Did you know that Canadian companies or investors could be associated with many of these attacks?
In fact, the connections between Canadian companies and attacks on human rights defenders are so clear, the United Nations has called on Canada to put in place a watchdog to hold Canadian oil, gas, mining, and garment companies to account for these human rights abuses. (It seems that our Federal Government has not kept its promise which we praised many months ago - FVC)
April 25, 2019 - Amnesty International
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Learn More & Take Action Here

ANOTHER BROKEN PROMISE: Canadian Government Reneges on Promise to Create Independent Corporate Human Rights Watchdog

April 10, 2019
Development and Peace
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Montreal, April 8, 2019  – The Government of Canada failed today to appoint an independent Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) with real powers to investigate abuses and redress the harm caused by Canadian companies operating abroad.
Canadian companies operating overseas have been associated with widespread and egregious human rights abuses including forced labour, rape and murder.

After fifteen months, mining-affected communities and Canadian voters are still waiting for the government to fulfill its electoral promise of creating an independent ombudsperson office with the power to investigate, which was what also announced in January 2018.            LEARN MORE
It is unbelievable that a country like Canada allows the atrocities to be carried by Canadian companies​ in foreign countries (FVC)
         Elections coming soon - vote 

​Brazil: New catastrophic spill from mining dam threatens thousands of lives

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from  London Mining Network               
Source: LMN
Hundreds of people are missing, 37 people have been confirmed dead and more than 24,000 people have been evacuated from the Brazilian town hit by a deadly mudslide unleashed by a ruptured mining dam, as rains raised fears a second dam could collapse.

Campaigners report dangerous water levels at a tailings dam still standing near the iron ore mine owned by Vale SA near Brumadinho in Minas Gerais state....
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Rodrigo Peret OFM
Richard Solly from the London Mining Network told ICN: "The catastrophic spill from Brazilian company Vale's Brumadinho mining waste dam in Minas Gerais state is the second massive waste dam collapse in Brazil in recent years. The last one was at Mariana, in the same state, in November 2015, at the Samarco iron ore mine owned by Vale and London-listed mining company BHP. The 2015 disaster had a much greater environmental impact, but Friday's disaster seems to have taken perhaps fifteen times as many lives - up to 350 people are still missing and may be dead.....

....Our colleague Rodrigo Peret OFM, of the Churches and Mining Network in Brazil, who is is the area of the spill, said: "Three years after Mariana, this new crime of the mining company Vale is evidence of the way the authorities and mining companies systematically ignore the constant denunciations made by community, civil society organisations and social movements. The mining company Vale remains unpunished, with irresponsible and illegal conduct covered up by public authorities. This new disaster shows that mining is based on a development model which is unsustainable and lethal."             LEARN MORE

​What would it cost to clean up Alberta’s oilpatch? $260 billion, a top official warns

November 7, 2018 - The Star
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The estimated liabilities are far higher than any liability amount made public by government and industry officials.  READ MORE   and yet:

Last Thursday, I(Jody Chan), ​The Leap, sat on a call with journalists, investors, and oil and gas industry executives as Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNRL) announced their 2018 third quarter earnings: $1.8 billion. Yes, you read that right: $1.8 billion, in just three months of 2018.
And yet, CNRL has over 10,000 inactive wells that are over 15 years old and have yet to be cleaned up.   READ MORE AND SEE HOW TO TAKE ACTION
​

Also see ​Canada's National Observer story where the Alberta’s fossil fuel industry regulator will resign over this issue. Where is the Federal Government on this? - FVC

Honduras Catholic Church to Aura Minerals & all mining companies: “GET OUT OF OUR TERRITORY” 

October 2, 2018 - Rights Action
Statement by Bishop & Diocese of Santa Rosa de Copán (Honduras), saying ‘No’ to Aura Minerals destruction of Azacualpa cemetery, ‘No’ to Aura’s cyanide-leaching, open-pit mining.
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(L: bones of bodies illegally exhumed by Aura Minerals, left lying around in Azacualpa cemetery. R: local citizen stares in one of the over 100 graves emptied out. Photos: Azacualpa environmental committee)

The Diocese of Santa Rosa de Copán, in Honduras, demanded that Aura Minerals (Canadian/U.S.) gold mining company and its subsidiary MINOSA and ALL the mining companies, close all of their operations and depart from Azacualpa, in clear support to the local community.
                                                         READ THE STORY

​MASSIVE FOSSIL FUEL SUBSIDIES CONTINUE, BUT TRUE COSTS ARE HIDDEN FROM CANADIANS

September 23, 2018 - ​Environmental Defense
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What’s the dumbest policy in the world? Public cash for oil and gas!
Canada’s federal government handed out hundreds of millions of dollars per year in public money to oil and gas companies between 2016 and 2018, despite its longstanding commitment to phase out fossil fuel subsidies.

Take action: Tell Canada to stop funding fossils.
Actually, the final figure is likely much higher, but a lack of transparency from the federal government makes many subsidies to climate polluters difficult to quantify. With the recent purchase of the Kinder Morgan pipeline, that number is likely to be higher still.    READ MORE
PLUS: The Star reports:
“This has more to do with the oil price crash and crafty industry tax accounting than significant action by Canada’s government,” said Patrick DeRochie, climate and energy program manager of Environmental Defence. “Combining carbon pricing and fossil fuel subsidies is like trying to bail water out of a leaky boat. If you don’t fix the leak, you are never going to fix the problem.”

​Open for Justice: Increasing corporate accountability in Canada

September 9, 2018 - Mining Watch Canada
On January 17, 2018, The Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability (CNCA) is greatly encouraged by the Minister of International Trade’s announcement of the creation of a Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise. The human rights ombudsperson will investigate complaints concerning the overseas operations of Canadian companies and will issue public findings on allegations of harm. The office will make recommendations for redress; regarding corporate eligibility for government services; and with respect to policy and law reform. Read Executive Summary: Establishing a human rights Ombudsman for Canada’s international extractive sector (pdf)? Take Action: Ask your member of parliament to support this initiative.

​Dozens of scientists from over 20 countries explain how mining, logging and fossil fuels disrupt the water on earth

August 8, 2018 - Canada's National Observer
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Rare old growth trees in the Great Bear Rainforest. Photo by Andy Wright
Canadian government departments should work closer together to determine how the interaction of forests and water is being disrupted by fossil fuel extraction, mining and logging, says a Canadian scientist at the centre of a new report presented to the United Nations.
​

“There’s an emerging scientific body of evidence that is starting to suggest that it’s not just what happens when the raindrop falls to the ground...but that the forests produce water,” says Canadian scientist Irena Creed. #cdnpoli #cdnsci

Oil and gas extraction, logging and mining all has an impact on the connection between forests and water, she said. Canada should examine how much resource extraction should be halted in order to ensure the ecosystem’s forest-water balance isn’t disrupted.            READ MORE....

July 18, 2018 - The Narwhal

Canada’s mining giants pay billions less in taxes in Canada than abroad

Companies pay Canada a tiny fraction of what they pay other countries to extract gold
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Mining companies operating in Canada are paying just a fraction of the fees, taxes and royalties they pay in other countries. That's often in addition to underfunded mine liability. Pictured here is the abandoned Giant Mine in Yellowknife, one of the country's largest gold mines, which operated for 70 years before closing and leaving Canadians with an estimated billion-dollar cleanup. Photo: Matt Jacques / The Narwhal                  READ THE FULL STORY

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The hypocrisy of a "climate leader"

May 29, 2018
If you're a Canadian taxpayer, congratulations: you just bought a pipeline.

In an announcement today, Finance Minister Bill Moreau delivered the shocking news that the federal government will spend at least $4.5 billion to bailout oil giant Kinder Morgan. It's a stunning ripoff for Canadians — today, and for generations to come. 

The hypocrisy of a climate leader government buying its own pipeline is astounding as is the financial risk they just laid on all Canadian taxpayers. And perhaps more egregiously, this all took place while the question of whether approval of the pipeline was un-constitutional remains before the courts.  READ MORE.  Also see the following information from.......
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Read their
statement here

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LEARN MORE 
...and Canadian mining companies appear to have their hands dirty as well

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​Six Reasons To Be Concerned About the Ajax Open Pit Mine in Kamloops, B.C.

February 13, 2018 - SumOfUs & Canadian Mining Watch
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AJAX mine would destroy part of Jacko Lake and Peterson Creek, sacred to First Nations (Pípsell in Secwepemc language)
Learn More
Sign the Petition
​The Canadian government is just days away from deciding the fate of the massive Ajax copper-gold mine. If built, the mine would destroy an ecologically-sensitive area that is home to over 250 different animal, plant and bird species, and sits on the sacred lands of the Stk’emlupsemc te Secwepemc Nation (SSN), where 7,000 year-old cultural artifacts have been uncovered.
The BC government just did the right thing and said no to this project that would sit mere kilometers from homes, schools and a hospital -- putting residents at risk of water contamination and health problems from toxic pollution. This is an incredibly positive first step -- but both levels of government need to reject the project to stop it.
Now, we need to up the pressure on the Federal government to follow BC’s lead and put the final nail in the Ajax mine’s coffin. ......Read More
​

         Six Reasons To Be Concerned About the Ajax Open Pit Mine in Kamloops, B.C. ​

​End food waste in Canada!

February 3, 2018 - Change.org
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Every year, $31 billion of food ends up in a landfill in Canada alone. This isn't just stale bread and mouldy produce. This is good to eat food of all sorts. Produce, dairy, grain, protein, and everything outside of those.

Yet, nearly one million Canadians rely on food banks each month, and about four million Canadians are "food insecure", of which 1.5 million are children.

In 2015, the French government passed a law forbidding supermarkets from wasting and deliberately destroying food that can still be eaten. Instead, supermarkets have since been required to donate all unsold food products to charity such as food banks.
​
                                         READ MORE AND TAKE ACTION

January 9, 2018

​
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Read the story

​UN Environment Assembly moves to curb pollution from extractive industries

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Artisanal gold mining in DR Congo’s South Kivu has been a source of mercury pollution

Trudeau Government Must Act after Striking Workers Murdered at Canadian-Owned Mine in Mexico

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TORONTO – The murders of two strikers at a Canadian-owned mine underscores the widespread repression of basic labour rights in Mexico – even when the employer is Canadian, the United Steelworkers (USW) says.
“On Saturday, November 18 – four days after the Canadian government was warned of the potential for such violence – an armed group murdered two striking workers from the Canadian-owned Media Luna gold mine in the state of Guerrero,” said Ken Neumann, the USW’s National Director for Canada.
“The root of these brutal murders is the widespread repression of labour rights in Mexico – including by Canadian companies,” Neumann said.
“We are once again urging the Canadian government to intervene with Mexican authorities and the company to recognize the basic rights of Mexican workers and prevent further violence. The Mexican government and this Canadian company must ensure this conflict is resolved without further bloodshed.”   READ MORE....


Canada has the second-worse mining record in the world: UN

October 27, 2017 - DESMOG-CANADA
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Canada has more mine tailings spills than most other countries in the world, according to a report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which urges governments and the mining industry to improve safety, accountability and oversight.
During the last decade there have been seven known mine tailings spills in Canada, only one less than reported in China, which tops the list, says the report.
The UNEP assessment “Mine Tailings Storage: Safety Is No Accident” looks at 40 tailings accidents, including the 2014 Mount Polley disaster that saw 24 million cubic metres of sludge and mine waste flooding into nearby waterways.   READ MORE
The sheer size and scope of Alberta's some 20 oilsands tailings ponds is unprecedented for any industry in the world. 

According to the U.S. Department of the Interior, one of these ponds — the Mildred Lake Settling Basin — is the world's largest dam by volume of construction material.

Since oilsands mining operations started in 1967, 1.3 trillion litres of fluid tailings has accumulated in these open ponds on the Northern Alberta landscape. This is enough toxic waste to fill 400,000 Olympic swimming pools.  READ MORE
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The industry continues to ignore calls to clean up tailing ponds - Write your member of Parliament to enact more stringent environmental laws to protect people and the environment.

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