Action Alerts Archives: Canadian Mining, Oil and Gas overseas

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Help Stop Canadian Human Right Violations and Environmental Disasters Abroad!

SIGN OUR PETITION and voice your demand to regulate the activities of Canadian mining, oil and gas companies overseas.

Do YOU care about Canada’s image abroad? Believe that companies should be more accountable? We need your help.

During the week of January 29th, the Halifax Initiative Coalition is joining groups across Canada in a week-long drive to get individuals like YOU to sign our petition to Parliament demanding that the government work to improve the record of Canadian mining, oil and gas companies overseas.

We already have 2000 signatures. Now we need YOUR help to reach our target of 3500 by February 20, 2007 (we did it!) when we will submit the petition to Parliament.

WHAT YOU CAN DO
Circulate this alert to your friends and colleagues and then take an hour of your time and go around your workplace, your office building, your school, your neighborhood, and encourage everyone you know to sign the petition. You can make a real difference to helping us reach our target.

Since Parliament is strict about petitions, PLEASE FOLLOW THESE SIMPLE RULES:

  • Electronic petitions are not accepted by Parliament, so be sure to print the petition out.
  • Don’t scratch out or change any text.
  • Write inside the boxes.
  • Make sure the first page of the petition has at least 3 signatures; use the second page provided for all additional signatures.
  • Each petitioner must sign his or her name directly on the petition (not printed).
  • The petitioner’s address must be written directly on the petition. The petitioner may give his or her full address or simply the city and the province.
  • Only Canadians or permanent residents living in Canada can sign the petition.

When you have 25 signatures, send your completed petition by February 7th to:

Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability
c/o Halifax Initiative Coalition
153 Chapel Street
Ottawa, ON KIN 1H5

PETITION DEMANDS
We want

1) Canadian companies operating internationally to meet clearly defined corporate accountability standards, including existing international human rights and environmental standards;

2) Effective monitoring, verification and compliance mechanisms to ensure that Canadian companies are meeting these standards; and

3) Legislation to hold Canadian companies and their directors accountable in Canada when found complicit in human rights abuses and environmental destruction abroad and to offer victims grievance mechanisms for these violations.

BACKGROUND
Over two thirds of the world’s mining, oil and gas industry are incorporated here in Canada. Yet, despite being a global leader in the extractive industry, we are a laggard when it comes to corporate accountability. Canadian extractive companies have been implicated in well documented cases of human rights violations and environmental disasters abroad. Allegations of toxic dumping, the destruction of protected areas, forced displacement of indigenous peoples, collaboration with repressive regimes, and threats of intimidation of local communities, have been associated with the activities of specific Canadian companies.

Currently the Government of Canada relies on voluntary standards to encourage good behaviour by Canadian companies overseas, and lacks the legal and policy tools to enforce human rights and environmental standards. In response to a demand from Parliamentarians, the Government held a series of four Roundtables in 2006 to determine how it could address some of these shortfalls, and will be making known the conclusions of its report in February 2007.

The petition is another way of letting the government know that the Canadian public supports a change to the status quo and wants Canadian companies and the Canadian government to be global leaders on corporate accountability.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
For more information on this and the National Roundtables on Extractive Industries and CSR, visit the Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability web site at: http://www.halifaxinitiative.org/Issues_CNCA/

And check out the new Canadian mining map for more information on Canadian companies that are associated with environmental and social problems: http://www.halifaxinitiative.org/index.php/miningmap/