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November 1, 2005

Stale Government Response to SCFAIT Mining and Human Rights Recommendations
"Balderdash!" summed up New Democratic Party MP Ed Broadbent's thoughts on the government's response to a set of recommendations made by the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade (SCFAIT) on the issue of Mining and Human Rights. Although the Government's response, released October 18th, acknowledged a need for action to address the often devastating impacts of the mining sector, it dismissed the majority of the Committee's recommendations. Citing a number of challenges that prevent more concrete action, the government focused on purely voluntary measures.

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

October 13, 2005

Prominent Canadians, in a letter to the Prime Minister today, called on the government to put a stop to human

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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.

G8 Leaders Fail to Make Much Progress at Gleneagles Summit, World Bank given leading role.

May 31, 2005

Canadian mine in eye of storm; Protests bring moratorium on licences for extraction of gold and silver