Montreal NGO Investigates Claims of Mining Injustices in Central America
The Social Justice Committee seeks truth behind Canadian mining
MONTREAL, QUEBEC--(Marketwire - July 15, 2010) - The Social Justice Committee has sent a delegation to Central America to meet with community leaders angered by Canadian mining companies operating in the region.
"There is a lot of hostility towards Canadian mines and their effects on human rights and the natural environment," said group leader Rev. Ernie Schibli of St. Edward the Confessor Mission in Pointe Claire. "Canada's reputation in Central America has been tarnished."
The delegation is meeting with communities affected by the Aura Minerals San Andres mine in Honduras, the Goldcorp Marlin Mine in Guatemala, and the Pacific Rim El Dorado mine in El Salvador. They are also meeting with mining issues groups concerning access to land, food and water.
Goldcorp, a Canadian gold mining company, was recently ordered to suspend operations at its Marlin mine by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights after claims of human rights violations and environmental damage in Guatemala.
Outcry in El Salvador has also led the suspension of mining permits nationally. Affected Canadian mining giant, Pacific Rim, is now suing the country for loss of profits.
When the delegation returns from Central America on July 16th, 2010, Schibli and the group will be available to speak with local media about their findings. They will also upload interviews with affected communities on the SJC website and hold a public talk.
Schibli, who has been taking groups down to Central America since the conflicts of the 1970s, hopes the trip will help shed light on the controversy surrounding Canada's mining industry abroad.
____________________________________ SJC Fall Internships Learn more. ____________________________________ Debt Presentation Training
This summer the Social Justice Committee will be offering a training session for new presenters of our popular workshop, Who Owes Whom? on the history of the global debt crisis. The training will give participants the opportunity to learn more about the issue of Third World debt, and to improve their presentation skills.
Training to present this workshop will require 5 evening sessions. Instruction will be provided both in French and English. As this free training session takes time, resources and organization to plan, we ask participants to commit themselves to being a presenter for a minimum of one year, and to commit to giving at least 4 presentations during that time. The presentations are done on a voluntary basis with the aim of providing public education on global poverty and human rights.
A general information meeting for interested presenters will be held at the Social Justice Committee (1857 de Maisonnueve O.) on Tuesday, June 22nd at 5:30 p.m. Eric Lamoureux , History Professor at Vanier College and member of the SJC Board of Directors, will lead the training sessions.
Workshop Description:
This interactive workshop travels across time to explore the origins of debt and poverty in the Global South. From Christopher Colombus to Bretton Woods, to the Cold War and structural adjustment programs, this workshop provides a unique opportunity to learn about this international issue. Come learn about global inequality, economic rights, and how you can make a difference.
Feel free to call us for more details at (514) 933-9767. Thank you for your support. We look forward to seeing you! ______________________________________ SJC Photo Exhibit at Peace Festival 2010
The SJC photo exhibit Gold, Dust and Power: Indigenous Activism and Canadian Mining in Guatemala will be featured in this year's Montreal Peace Festival. The festival runs from June 17-19 and will focus on peace and responsible trade.
The exhibit will be open to the public on Friday, June 18th from 4pm-6pm (free admission), and at a plenary dinner entitled Exploitation minière et ses conséquences at 6:30pm ($10, RSVP) at 120 Duluth East. It will also be up on Saturday, June 19th from 11am-9pm, as part of a series of outdoor activities at the l’École Arc-en-ciel, 4265 Laval.
For more information on the Peace Festival 2010, visit : http://www.maisondelamitie.ca
Photos by James Rodriguez : www.mimundo.org and Paul Lemieux. __________________________________
Delegation to Central America
The SJC will be sending a delegation to Guatemala, El Salvador and Honduras from June 29-July 16th, 2010. This delegation will be meeting with groups focusing on Canadian mining, democracy and food sovereignty.
We invite you to look for updates on the SJC blog , website, and Facebook page. If you would like to contact the group before or during the trip, please contact Megan McKee (English communication) or Nali Paradis (French communication) at the SJC office: (phone) 514 933 6797; (e-mail)
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Action Alert : Drop Haiti's Debt to the IMFLearn more. __________________________________ Upcoming Workshops
August 17-18, 2010, Une dette combien de fois payée?, Journées Alternatives August 17-18, 2010, Le coût de l'or guatémaltèque, Journées Alternatives More information on workshops. _______________________________ Call for Participants: The Loud Justice Theatre Project Learn More. ________________________________ Please donate to the SJC. We need your support!
Dear Friend of the SJC,
I’m an SJC volunteer who has been giving public presentations on behalf of the Social Justice Committee for 15 years now. Each year, volunteers like me visit up to 60 groups across Montreal and Quebec to explain how corporations, financial institutions, and trade affect marginalized communities around the world.
We volunteers travel far and wide, to places like Quebec City, Rawdon, St Jerome, Gatineau, Sept Iles and every corner of the Montreal island. Sometimes doing a presentation means giving up a whole day, with travel time added in.
I remember getting up at 5am on a dark January morning for the bus to Rawdon, then waiting at a dépanneur for the ride to the workshop and not feeling entirely positive about the whole experience. And then I got there and met these wonderful kids who were getting ready to head overseas, and we had a great workshop together. It was delightful.
SJC presentations work because they're so interactive. People walk out buzzing. They talk about how relevant it is to their own understandings of the world. I can’t think of at time when people didn’t come up and say, that was fabulous, I learned so much, I want to do more, I want to get involved.
Being an SJC presenter means you command knowledge of one of these themes in global issues: 1) the increasing indebtedness of the poorest countries; 2) mining and the changing rules on corporate social responsibility; and 3) power dynamics in global trade. (And you're trained to present really well! Me, I bring a high level of energy to it, and I know it is infectious.)
Every year, through the SJC, I meet hundreds of other people who, like you and me, have genuine hope for the future. Students, community workers, church-goers, business people - people from all walks of life are willing to work to create that future.
Many, like you, join the SJC.
The SJC has been bringing together people for 35 years this year, and our programmes have become more and more ambitious. I contribute all I can to this organization, because I believe in its purpose, I know it is effective and, most of all, I know it is needed.
Thanks for letting me share some of my thoughts with you, and thank you for supporting the SJC.
Sincerely,
Eric Lamoureux
(Eric is a history professor at Vanier College and an SJC Volunteer and Board Member.)
PS You can renew your commitment to the SJC today by donating online at Canada Helps , or by sending a cheque made out to the Social Justice Committtee, and mailing it to 1857 de Maisonneuve. O, Montreal, QC, Canada H3H 1J9.
What about becoming a sustaining donor? We can bill your Visa or MasterCard monthly. Or just phone us up! We're old-fashioned too. Write this on the back of your hand to remind you: 514-933-6797. ________________________________________ SJC News - April 2010
Winter 2010 Education Projects
-This February the SJC hosted the public workshop series Alternative Responses to the Global Food Crisis at UQAM. With three workshops presented by SJC volunteers, this event attracted students and the general public alike.
-The SJC’s Global Economic Justice Working Group organized the two-part workshop Developing Advocacy Skills: Preparing a "Tool Box" For Social Change with the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse.
-In March the SJC partnered with Projet Accompagnement Québec-Guatemala to organise a talk at Dawson College with women’s rights defenders Genoveva Marroquín and Lubia Menédez.
-The SJC and the Montreal Citizen’s Forum hosted a talk at the Atwater Library entitled Afghanistan– Are Peace Negotiations Possible? What is happening on the ground?
-We have also scheduled 22 workshops since January, with more on the way for the summer.
Advocacy Updates
- In January the SJC joined with civil society groups to issue a statement to the Foreign Ministers Meeting on Haiti in Montreal. The statement included demands that multilateral creditors cancel Haiti’s debt. This March the Inter-American Development Bank cancelled Haiti’s debt.
- SJC members responded to an international urgent action calling for an investigation into the murders of activists Dora “Alicia” Recinos Sorto and Ramiro Rivera, who opposed the Canadian-owned El Dorado mine in El Salvador. In January Cabañas residents met with Salvadoran attorneys, representatives from the Salvadoran government, and top officials at the United States Embassy to discuss the issue. The investigation into the murders is ongoing, but a new report released by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) states that it has been ineffective, and that the lack of security in the region remains unacceptable.
Members also asked MPs to support Bill C-300, which would help the Canadian government regulate mining companies overseas. Bill C-300 survived prorogation and is waiting to be debated again by the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development.
- In March the SJC became an official member of the Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability. We joined with a number of groups to submit documents to the RCMP on Canadian mining company Blackfire's involvement in a Mexican corruption case.
Board of Directors
This spring we say goodbye to board member Nikki Shaffeeullah and welcome new members Carole Matthieu and Melanie Hadida. |
