Open For Justice

The Open for Justice Campaign is a coalition of organizations including Canadian Network for Corporate Accountability (CNCA), Amnesty, Kairos and The United Church of Canada (UCC).  

The Justice and Global Issues Team need to help in ensuring that people harmed by the overseas operations of Canadian mining companies are able to access justice in Canada.  We need an extractive-sector ombudsperson as well as access to Canadian courts. BACKGROUND Canada is home to more than half of the world’s mining companies, with active projects in more than 100 countries. These companies are often viewed as representative of Canada abroad,  however human rights abuses, environmental damage, displacement and violations of basic labour rights are all too often associated with these projects.   Here are just three examples: Burkina Faso: 16,000 residents were relocated by a Canadian company to make way for an open pit gold mine in Burkina Faso (West Africa).  A human rights organization has reported that residents were relocated to areas without adequate sources of water or soil fertility.  Approximate net revenues of Canadian owned gold mines in Burkina Faso in 2013 alone: US$277.3 million. This in one of the poorest countries in the world (UN report). Guatemala: In 2013, 7 men and youth were peacefully protesting outside a Canadian silver mine in Guatemala, when they were shot and injured by private security of the company. To date there has been no justice for the victims in Guatemala or Canada, nor any repercussions against the company for ordering violence to silence a community defending its rights.                                                  Philippines: The Cordillera Elders Assembly, meeting in Kalinga province (north Philippines) in 2011, agreed to oppose large scale mining on their ancestral territory under present political and militarized conditions.  Their rallying cry:  “Protect the land.” There is no international system that currently governs resource extraction to protect human rights or the environment.  In many countries where extractive companies operate, protections do not exist or are not enforced; multilateral institutions are often weak or inaccessible; and there are barriers to seeking justice in Canada.

CALL FOR CANADIAN GOVERNMENT ACTION The Canadian government must act to ensure that Canadian mining companies live up to international human rights, labour and environmental standards.       Parliament needs to: 1.    Create an independent extractive-sector Ombudsperson in Canada, with the power to investigate complaints and make recommendations, including suspending or ending Canadian government support to companies that do not respect international standards.  Unlike the present federal CSR Counsellor’s Office, the Ombudsperson would be mandated to make its findings public, and to perform these functions regardless of a company’s willingness to participate; and 2.    Facilitate access to Canadian courts for people who have been seriously harmed by the international operations of Canadian companies.

HOW CAN YOU HELP? Please consider the following: 1.   Write to your member of Parliament  Ask them to call on the government to ·         Establish an independent, impartial Ombudsperson for the Canadian extractive sector’s operations outside of Canada        Allow those who have been harmed by Canadian extractive companies' operations abroad, access to Canadian courts. Here's a link to a sample letter (Word document) from The  United Church of Canada  website.  You can find your MP here by entering your postal code.  2.   Promote the Open for Justice Reception with your MP Request that your member of Parliament attend a reception on Parliament Hill to learn more about the Open for Justice Campaign.  The reception will take place on June 1, 2016 6-8 pm.  The Canadian Network for Corporate Accountability (CNCA) sent invitations to each MP in late April. 3.   Learn More  Participate in the Canadian Mining Justice webinar offered by the United Church advocacy network United for Mining Justice.  The webinar will take place on June 8   1:30-3:30 pm EST.

June 8 Canadian Mining Justice Webinar Click here for info/to register