TheCorporation.com Blog

November 05, 2013

Canada: A Haven for Mining Corporations?

At a recent conference in Vancouver, I met a Corporation fan and we got into a very interesting discussion about mining in Canada, and "the Canadian International Institute for Extractive Industries and Development (CIIEID)" that has recently been formed at the University of British Columbia.

Canada is known for it's laws that favor corporations - it's no wonder that 75% of the world's mining corporations are based in Canada. The laws in Canada allow for transnational mining corporations to maximize their exploitation of countries in the Global South. Through Free Trade Agreements, and Foreign Investment Protection Agreements, corporations are inveitably able to be legally protected from losing profits. What this means is that when countries fight against corproations for (for example) destroying water sheds, contaminating water, displacing communities, and in many cases, creating conditions that cause death - corporations can sue the country for imposing laws that infringe on their profits, including human rights laws. Here's an example:

"When Canada banned the gasoline additive MMT in 1996 on the grounds that it is a neurotoxin, US-based Ethyl Corp filed a claim against Canada for $251M for lost potential profits. ICSID’s tribunal ruled in favor of Ethyl Corp; Canada paid Ethyl Corp $19M, rescinded the ban, and reversed the Health Canada opinion on the toxicity of MMT. [http://www.citizen.org/trade/article_redirect.cfm?ID=6221]

Although French Bechtel had invested less than $1M in privatizing Cochabamba, Bolivia’s water utility, after the people raised their voices and forced the government to break the contract because of abuses, in 2002 Bechtel filed a claim with ICSID for $50M lost potential profit. After massive public outcry, they eventually gave up the lawsuit. [http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=6670]

Because Argentina converted the currency used to calculate energy tariffs from pesos to dollars, CMS Energy sued the country for “expropriation and discriminatory treatment.” ICSID, which ruled on the case, had Argentina pay $133M to CMS Energy.

In April 2013, Vancouver-based mining company Pacific Rim, via their wholly-owned US-based subsidiary, increased their claim under CAFTA’s investment rules against El Salvador from $77M to $315M because the country refused to grant them a license to extract gold at the El Dorado mine. The suit is being seen by the ICSID."

(Source: "Not From My Campus" website)

More recently in Vancouver, an organization called "the Canadian International Institute for Extractive Industries and Development (CIIEID)" was formed at the University of British Columbia (UBC), with significant funding from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), which their vision states is "the stimulation of sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction in developing countries by improving their respective abilities to use and to benefit from their extractive industry sectors."

Students at UBC have been raising concerns about this publicly funded organization within an academic institution, and an organization called "Not From My Campus" has been formed to keep the CIIEID accountable.

"Not From My Campus" has raised several concerns regarding the CIIEID, several of them which apply to the ways that we need to reform corporate laws (and corporate personhood).

One of these is the idea that an organization (such as the CIIEID) which implies that they intend to reduce poverty and contribute to sustained economic growth in developing countries, must also reform the laws that mitigate corporate accountability. Without reforming these laws, any hope of corporations being held (legally) responsible and accountable is virtually impossible. Similar to this point about reforming laws to keep corporations accountable, is the creation of legal recourses for victims of corporate crimes to seek accountability from corporations within the laws that they are based. Currently, Canada does not have these legal opportunities for victims in other countries to seek accountability from corporations. This needs to change.

What can we do?

The "Not From Our Campus" organization has a great website (from which I got most of these facts!) - http://notfrommycampus.wordpress.com- they are actively doing organizing around the CIIEID. Check out their event "Canadian mining, aid, and UBC: Development for whom?" - with Yves Engler - acclaimed activist, journalist, and author ("The Ugly Canadian, and "The Black Book on Canadian Foreign Policy"), who will speak on this issue on Thursday, Nov 7, 12-1:30 at the Liu Institute for Global Issues (6476 NW Marine Drive), Multipurpose room.

Connect with us and join our mail list here - keep updated on what is happening with the "Occupy Your Future" campaign.

Please also check out what our friends at Inter Pares are doing around economic justice in the South.

There are always local things that you can do too - write to your political representative and voice your concern about what is happening in regards to mining and natural resource exploitation in your community. The Keystone XL pipeline, for example, affects so many of us - it's time to have our voice heard.