Canadian Business Journal

BY MATTHEW McCLEARN

COVER DATE: Sept. 2, 2003

Many Canadians cannot point to Lesotho on a map. Some have never heard of it. In the cruel calculus of world politics, business, trade and finance, it is almost completely irrelevant. And yet, this tiny nation landlocked by South Africa must loom large on the minds of executives at Acres International Ltd., an engineering consulting firm based in Oakville, Ont. Its legal representatives are now in the capital, Maseru, for what could be the endgame of the most important battle in the company's 79-year history.

August 1, 2003

Mr. Fraser Reilly-King
Halifax Initiative
153 Chapel Street, Suite 104
Ottawa, ON  K1N 1H5

Dear Mr. Reilly-King

This is to acknowledge receipt of your letter dated July 28, 2003, and enclosed documentation. I acknowledge that your letter was also copied to Darlene Pearson, Director, Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Auditor General of Canada.

You do not note in  your letter whether you attempted to resolve your concerns with Export Development Canada (EDC) by any other means. You have referred the matter to ma as Compliance Officer for EDC.

Pursuant to the resolution guidelines, upon receipt of such a letter, I must conduct an initial appraisal of your concerns to establish whether they fall within the mandate of EDC’s Compliance Program.

July 28, 2003

Mr. Fraser Reilly-King
NGO Working Group on the EDC
Halifax Initaitive
104-153 Chapel Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1N 1H5

Dear Mr. Reilly-King:

Thank you for your letter of May 16, 2003, concerning the Three Gorges Hydroelectric Project in China. I regret the delay in replying to you.

 
GLOBE AND MAIL, JUNE 12, 2003
Dam promotion draws fire
Canadian support ignores environment, homelessness concerns, coalition says
 
By GEOFFREY YORK
Thursday, June 12, 2003 - Page A14
 

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.

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MEDIA RELEASE
Canada behind leaders in Export Credit Agency reform EDC continues to operate in secret
For immediate release.
Ottawa, March 31, 2002. Export Development Canada (EDC), Canada's export credit agency, released environmental and disclosure practices yesterday that fall far behind the leaders in export credit agency reform.

MEDIA RELEASE
EDC criticized on International Day of Action Against Dams and for Rivers
Canadian organizations call on Export Development Canada to change new, weak environmental policy
For Immediate Release

Comments and critiques of EDC’s Environmental Review Directive and recommendations by the Working Group - March 1, 2002

MEDIA RELEASE
EXPORT DEVELOPMENT CANADA’S NEW ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY WILL NOT STOP IT FROM FINANCING ENVIRONMENTAL DISASTERS
NGO Coalition calls for policy to be re-drafted following a public comment period
For immediate release