Correspondence

EDC response Re: INCO - January 7, 2003

January 7, 2003

Ms. Pamela Foster
Co-ordinator Halifax Initiative
153 Chapel Street, Suite 104 Ottawa ON
KIN 1H5

Dear Ms. Foster:

This refers to your letter of October 23 to EDC President and CEO, Ian Gillespie, regarding possible Export Development Canada (EDC) support for an expansion of INCO's mining activity in Indonesia.  Mr. Gillespie has asked me to reply on his behalf.

We are not familiar with any expansion plans by INCO in Indonesia. We will, however, take your comments into consideration should that circumstance change. Any possible involvement by EDC would first have to fully address the Environmental Review Directive (ERD) requirements for projects of this nature. At EDC, we take our adherence to Corporate Social Responsibility very seriously and ensure that our policies in this area are rigorously applied.

Letter to Canadian IMF Director Re: Proposed New Debt - December 18, 2002

Letter to Canadian IMF Director on Proposed New Debt Restructuring Mechanism

Mr. Ian Bennett
IMF Executive Director for Canada
Fax: 202-623-4712
Re.: IMF board meeting on SDRM on December 18, 2002

Dear Mr. Bennett,

On December 18, the Board will discuss the IMF’s most recent version of an insolvency procedure for states, labelled the “Sovereign Debt Restructuring Mechanism” (SDRM).

CSO letter to World Bank President re CAO report on Bulyanhulu mine

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.

Letter to Canadian Fund Managers Re: Rosia Montana - November 8, 2002

November 8, 2002

Dear Fund Manager:

I am writing to call your attention to the controversy surrounding Gabriel Resources Ltd. and their proposed open cast gold mine in Romania. I am writing on behalf of the Halifax Initiative, a Canadian coalition of non-governmental organizations working together to monitor international financial institutions and their projects. Our members include Oxfam Canada, West Coast Environmental Law Association and Kairos Canada. We are also working closely with a coalition of people in Romania, actively opposing the proposed mine.
 
Your company may be considering investing in this project or may have already done so.  We are writing to highlight the risks involved in making such an investment in Gabriel Resources and the Rosia Montana mine.
 
(1) Commercial Risk

Letter to EDC President Re: International Nickel Company (INCO) in Indonesia - October 23, 2002

Mr. Ian Gillespie
President
Export Development Canada
151 O'Connor
Ottawa Ontario
KlA 1K3

23 October, 2002

Dear Mr. Gillespie,

It is with grave concern that we write you today regarding potential EDC support for expanding projects of the International Nickel Company (INCO) in Indonesia.

As you may be aware, the history of INCO's mining activity in Indonesia is not characterized by consensual relations with affected communities nor by respect for basic environmental standards.

Letter to Minister Manley Re: Southern Africa food crisis - July 19, 2002

The Honourable John Manley
Minister of Finance House of Commons
Ottawa, K1A 0A6

July 19, 2002

Dear Minister Manley,

Southern Africa is facing its worst food crisis in over a decade, with millions of people facing starvation. The UN World Food Programme has launched an emergency appeal for assistance, and Canada is responding promptly and generously.

As development, human rights, church and environmental organizations, our concern extends beyond the need for emergency aid. We are dismayed to see millions of dollars continue to be taken out of the region by creditors like the World Bank.

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