Canatuan Polymetallic Mine | Halifax Initiative

The Philippines
TVI Pacific Inc.
CIDA: Canada Fund (approx. $31,000)[1]

Opposition to the Canatuan project is widespread.[2] TVI claims that local residents support the project, but the ancestral leadership of the indigenous Subanon people, who claim ancestral domain over the concession land, dispute having given their free, prior and informed consent for the mine.[3] Locals report a climate of aggression and intimidation around the project.[4] The company hired a private security force made available by the Philippine military[5] and has issued eviction notices to clear the mine site of settlers. Armed security guards and bulldozers were involved in the most recent forced eviction of a family living in the concession area.[6] Mine opponents report having faced death threats and shootings. In March 2004, four people were injured after security guards fired on protesters.[7]

[1] Access to information documentation obtained from Canadian Embassy in Manila.

ATI reference number 000156 dated July 1, 2003. Engineer Domenico E. Pastoriza Jr.,
Operations Manager, TVI Resource Development Phils, Inc. accepts offer from Canadian Ambassador Robert Collette (ATI 000152-000155) of funding through the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives. Copy of the proposal is attached (ATI 000157-000170).
ATI reference number 000002 dated 7 September, 2005. Monitoring Meeting, Top Plaza Hotel, Dipolog City. "Total CF commitment: P1,299,750 (approx. CAD $31,000)."

[2] See petitions and testimonies contained in: Coumans, Catherine. Briefing Document: Subcommittee on Human Rights and International Development - TVI Pacific. May 18, 2005.

See also access to information documentation obtained from Canadian Embassy in Manila.

ATI reference number 000060 dated September 7, 2001. Letter from Jean-Rene Bealieu, Program Manager, Asia Bureau, Industrial Cooperation, CIDA, to Clifford James, President TVI Pacific Inc. "...we are facing mounting opposition against any form of involvement by CIDA in this highly contested mining project."