CSO letter regarding government boycott of corporate accountability conference

Hon. Stockwell Day
Minister of International Trade

Hon. Lawrence Cannon
Minister of Foreign Affairs

Hon. Lisa Raitt
Minister of Natural Resources

Hon. Beverley Oda
Minister of International Cooperation

November 3, 2009

Re: Withdrawal of civil servants from corporate accountability conference

Dear Ministers Day, Cannon, Raitt and Oda:

On October 29, civil servants from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Natural Resources Canada and the Canadian International Development Agency suddenly withdrew their participation from a conference jointly organized by the Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability (CNCA) and the Mining Association of Canada (MAC), which is taking place today. These civil servants withdrew not only as speakers on each of the conference’s panels, but also as registered participants.

Press Responses : Wednesday, June 18, 2003

CBC’s “The Current”
June 18, 2003
Damming Evidence: Canada and the World Commission on Dams  
It's the most expensive construction project in the history of the human race, and one of the largest.
 
The Three Gorges dam project in China won't be finished until 2009, but this month it passed a symbolic landmark. Engineers closed the dam's sluice gates and for the first time the mighty Yangtze was blocked. The enormous reservoir behind the dam is now starting to fill with water.

Press Response - November 16, 2003

FINANCE: Groups Fear Canadian Funding for Romanian Mine

Stephen Leahy

BROOKLIN, Canada, Nov 16 (IPS) - The World Bank's refusal to help fund a Canadian company's controversial development of a huge open pit gold mine in Romania has raised concerns the Canadian government will step in with money.

Last Monday hundreds of people gathered outside Canadian embassies in major European cities, including Budapest, Amsterdam, Vienna, Bratislava and Prague, to protest the 400-million-U.S.-dollar Rosia Montana gold mine in Romania. · Export Development Corporation· Romanian NGO Alburnus Maior· Gabriel Resources

''The Canadian government has to act to stop this mine. It will destroy the homes, churches and livelihoods of my people,” said Sorana Ciura, a member of Alburnus Maior, the Romanian group spearheading the protests, speaking at a news conference in Ottawa..

Civil Society Statement on CSR Counsellor

Government’s new Toothless Review Mechanism Underlines why Responsible Mining Bill C-300 is Necessary

Ottawa, October 26, 2010 – One day before the third and final vote in the House of Commons on Bill C-300, the government has launched its Review Process, a dispute resolution mechanism whereby the Extractive Sector Corporate Social Responsibility Counsellor proposes to mediate between aggrieved communities and Canadian mining, oil, and gas companies.

Significant deficiencies render this mechanism inadequate to resolve serious community grievances: the dispute mechanism is voluntary in nature, lacks a transparent fact-finding function and will lead to neither recommendations to government nor to sanctions. Consequently, Bill C-300 remains an important piece of legislation.

Letter to EDC President Re: Cernavoda 2 - July 11, 2002

July 11, 2002

Mr. Ian Gillespie
President
Export Development Canada
151 O’Connor
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 1K3

Dear Mr. Gillespie,

We are writing to urge you to refrain from extending support for the Cernavoda 2 nuclear reactor in Romania. There are key questions that remain outstanding on this project, questions that need to be answered before a public financial institution approves its support.

Question#1: Is Romania in violation of the Espoo Convention?

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