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May 17, 2012
Harsh reaction to Canadian Human Rights Report on Colombia
Reaction to the Canadian government’s human rights report tabled in Parliament Tuesday regarding implementation of the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement is drawing harsh criticism:
From the Mining Watch Blog
Canadian Human Rights Report on Colombia a ‘Sick Joke’
The Canadian government’s human rights report tabled in Parliament Tuesday regarding implementation of the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement might as well have been a comic strip of three monkeys: “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.”
Its substance is summed up in the first three pages of the eighteen-page report (that’s counting the title page and two annexes that occupy twelve pages). In essence: there will be no human rights report this year because only nine months have passed since the agreement was implemented.
-read the full post
From Amnesty International Canada
Empty human rights impact report yet another failure by government
Amnesty International Canada is deeply disappointed by the Canadian government's unilateral decision to ignore the 15 May 2012 deadline stipulated in Canadian law for tabling in Parliament of a report on the human rights impacts of the Canada Colombia Free Trade Agreement.
The document tabled by the government yesterday does not attempt any analysis of the human rights impacts of Canadian promotion of trade and investment in this war-torn country, claiming “sufficient trade data is not available”. Instead, the document provides only a cursory outline of steps the government plans to follow in order to prepare future reports, promising that the first will be completed a year from now in 2013.
- read the full post
May 10, 2012
Shout Out Against Mining Injustice
Vancouver BC
June 1-2, 2012
The Council of Canadians is hosting Shout Out Against Mining Injustice, a two-day international conference aimed at exposing the appalling environmental and human rights abuses of Canadian mining companies. Workshops, panel discussions and strategy sessions will raise awareness, build resistance and strengthen existing networks of solidarity.
Shout Out will feature engaging sessions with leading activists and representatives from mining-impacted communities in Chile, Guatemala, Mexico, Honduras, Ecuador, El Salvador and Canada. The conference starts on Friday, June 1st with a Public Forum featuring high profile speakers, community activists and musical acts. Saturday, June 2nd will offer delegates the chance to engage in discussion on vital issues ranging from the right to water, Indigenous rights and environmental justice within the context of mining. We will share experiences, explore campaign strategies and build alliances to strengthen the movement against mining injustice.
The events will bring together participants including: representatives from mine-affected communities; Indigenous communities; grassroots organizers; human rights activists; civil society groups; and concerned individuals from Canada, the United States and Latin America.
-Visit the website for more details and to register
May 7, 2012
Mining Injustice Conference – Bill C-323: Amending Canadian Courts to Hear Foreign Cases
via Mining Injustice Solidarity Network
Mark Rowlinson
Mark Rowlinson is a member of the United Steelworkers and lawyer who drafted Bill C-354 that aims to hold corporations legally accountable for human rights violations committed abroad.
Part 1
Part 2
May 3, 2012
Common Frontiers in solidarity with Quebec students
Common Frontiers expresses its solidarity with Quebec student protestors that have taken to the streets for close to four consecutive months now. The breakdown came after Education Minister Line Beauchamp barred members of the Coalition de l’Association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante (CLASSE) from participating in talks.
Quebec students took to the streets in protest to Premier Jean Charest’s plan to increase tuition by 75 percent over the next five years. Although the proposed tuition hike was the catalyst for the protest, student demands go beyond tuition hikes to include broader societal concerns over inequality, the environment and public services in Quebec. This has resonated with many in the rest of Canada who feel the same way.
Common Frontiers shares the concerns of many civil society organizations, including Amnesty International who has expressed concern over the use of excessive force by police against student protestors in Quebec. The Canadian branch of Amnesty human-rights has asked the government to call for a toning down of police measures that, it said, are unduly aggressive and might potentially smother students' right to free expression.
The majority of protestors are peaceful and partaking in legitimate acts of civil disobedience yet their basic rights are being violated. We call on the police and provincial Government to ensure the right to peaceful protest, including freedom of assembly, expression, and association are respected.
We condemn any tactics of arbitrary detention and police operatives acting as “agent provocateurs” to incite violence in the student crowd in order to delegitimize student protests. Police have used agent provocateurs in the past for such activities including at the North American leaders’ summit in Montebello Quebec in 2007.
- Common Frontiers in solidarity with Quebec students [PDF]
-Common Frontiers, en solidarité avec les étudiant- es du Québec [PDF]
May 2, 2012
Trade and its Impact on Human Rights:
Spotlight on the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement
The Canadian Council for International Cooperation and the Human Rights Research and Education Centre invite you to the conference Trade and its Impact on Human Rights : Spotlight on the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement presented by Olivier De Schutter, Human Rights Expert and UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Security.
Monday, May 14, 2012 - 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm
Tabaret Hall, Room 083, uOttawa
Light refreshments will be served.
-RSVP by May 10, 2012 : HRREC@uottawa.ca
-Click on the poster for more details
May 1, 2012
For Immediate Release
Report Calls for Dignity for All in Israel/Palestine
Toronto - The United Church of Canada today released the report of its Working Group on Israel/Palestine Policy. The report will be considered by the denomination's 41st General Council, which meets in Ottawa, August 11-18, 2012. Until that time the working group's report is not policy of the church, and its proposals are solely recommendations.
Former United Church Moderator, the Very Rev. David Giuliano, chaired the three-member working group. He says the working group believes that the dignity of all peoples in the region must be at the heart of any United Church policy directions.
"Without dignity for all the people of the land, and for the land itself, justice that leads to peace is not possible," says Giuliano.
The 26-page report was completed following extensive consultation, including a 12-day visit to the region in February 2011 . During that visit the working group met with representatives of Palestinian, Israeli, Christian, Muslim, and Jewish communities in Israel and the West Bank.
- Read the complete Media release
- Download the complete text of the working group's report [PDF: 26 pp/309 KB]
-
Questions &
Answers [PDF: 6 pp/135 KB]
April 22, 2012
For Immediate Release
Global Civil Society Calls on Governments to Strengthen, Not Weaken, UNCTAD’s Role in Global Governance
Sign-on Letter with 38 International and 137 National Organizations from Across theGlobe Delivered to Negotiators at UNCTAD XIII in Doha
Today, global civil society called on negotiators at the 13th quadrennial conference of the UN Conference on Trade and Development, UNCTAD XIII, to ensure that conference strengthens UNCTAD’s role on keys issues of global economic governance and financial reform.
The letter reads, in part:
It is essential that the 2012 UNCTAD Declaration affirms, rather than retreats from, the progress made at the UNCTAD XII in Accra. …
The collective policy analysis must recognize the root causes of the global crisis, its impacts, and mandate a role for UNCTAD to continue its excellent economic and finance research and critical analysis, in order to truly assist developing countries in creating solutions to the crises – rather than pushing them to implement more of the same deregulatory trade and investment policies that led to the global crises in the first place.
Finally, the role of UNCTAD as an alternative voice to the “Washington Consensus” paradigm – being the only multilateral economic institution focused on development – must be strengthened vis-à-vis the WTO, the IMF, the World Bank, the OECD, and the G20 in global economic governance decision-making.
-Read the complete media release
-Read the letter in English en Español en Portugués
-Read the Civil Society Declaration to UNCTAD XIII: Executive summary
April 17, 2012
Graphic - Canada's Free Trade Empire
The National Post recently put together a striking graphic, illustrating how Canada has expanded it’s free-trade regime significantly further under Stephen Harper than under previous governments. Below, a look at Canada’s free-trade empire:
(Click on the image to see a larger version)
On the ground at the Peoples Summit
Common Frontiers Executive Director Raul Burbano is in Cartagena, Colombia, attending the Peoples Summit from April 12 -14. During the summit, he'll be posting updates on what's happening. You can follow the updates at commonfrontiers.ca/Cartagena
-see Raul's photos from Cartagena
Thu Apr 19, 2012
Harper pushing extractive industry in Latin America but communities are pushing back
Cartagena, Colombia - At the Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia, Harper spoke to CEOs from across the Americas and unveiled Canada’s plans to expand into Latin America with vigor. Trade and investment, especially in the resource extraction sector, will be the engines driving this expansion. Canadian mining companies already have a significant presence in the region, with two-thirds of all mining projects in the Americas.
Harper carefully outlined to the business leaders the importance of the extractive sector to the Canadian economy, emphasizing that “mining alone contributed 50 billion dollars to GDP in 2011”. He went on to boast about the high standards of the industry, saying that Canadians are “justly proud” of their mining industry “for its elevated sense of social responsibility.”[1]
What he neglected to mention was that many communities in the region don’t share his vision of development and that Latin America is rife with resistance against Canada’s extractive industry. Montreal’s Osisko company learned this lesson the hard way when it tried to impose a mining project in the northern part of the state of La Rioja, Argentina. Even though the project was only in the exploratory stage, it met with local and nationwide protest. So much so that the company publicly acknowledged that it lacked a “social license” for exploration and development around the Famatina project, and put its operations on hold.[2]
- read more
Mon Apr 16, 2012
Interview with Chris Ferguson from the United Church
Sun Apr 15, 2012
Interview with Iván Cepeda Castro, defender of Human rights and Congressman - Friday April 14th Cartagena Colombia
Raul Burbano: Ivan it’s a pleasure to speak with you. Can you talk to us about the impact you have seen with the Canada Colombia Free trade Agreement.
Iván Cepeda Castro: Really, it's premature to make any analysis but what we have seen based on experience and unfortunate stories of other countries that have already undertaken Free Trade Agreements. This will have a negative impact on the country. To start, we already have an immense portion of hectors of land assigned to mining companies, one of them AngloGold Ashanti and others that in the wake of their presence in the country leave poverty, misery and destruction. Trade agreements that are totally unequal and destructive for Colombia. Hence why our position is not flexible here and we reject FTA’s even when they come decorated with clauses that say they support Human Rights. The little weight that these carry in relation to the disaster created by multinational corporations in Colombia is key.
-read the entire interview
-listen to the Spanish audio
Fri Apr 13, 2012
Canada and U.S stand alone in the America’s
Cartagena - Late last night, Foreign Ministers met to discuss the exclusion of Cuba in the summit. According to Nicolas Maduro the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Venezuela who announced on Colombian TV that ministers approved a surprised proposal with 32 of the 34 countries present at the summit agreeing to invite Raúl Castro, President of Cuba, to attend the summit of the America’s this coming Saturday. Only 2 countries stood alone opposing Cuba’s participation in the Summit, Canada and US. Although the resolution is not binding and is more symbolic it adds gasoline to the fire of the issue of the continued exclusion of Cuba at the Summits.
- read more
Thurs Apr 12
The People's Summit - The True Voice of the America's
Cartagena - The People's Summit a counter event to the official Summit of the Americas is appropriately titled, The True Voice of the America's. It kicked off yesterday with representatives from Labour, Indigenous, Afro-Colombian, student groups, workers, civil society, Ecumenical and NGO’s from Colombia and other countries across the continent. They gathered to share their stories, develop alternatives and build on one another’s experience.
- read more
April 12, 2012
MEDIA RELEASE
Summit of the Americas: An opportunity for Canada to reboot its troubled Americas Strategy, say NGOs
Ottawa, April 12, 2012. Canadian civil society organizations will be following this weekend’s Summit of the Americas closely, hoping to see Canada live up to its promises when it comes to Latin America. The Summit, which will take place in Colombia, will bring together 34 heads of state from across the continent, including Stephen Harper and Barack Obama.
Canada designated Latin America as a foreign policy priority in 2007, but its record of action to date has been narrowly focused on trade. In the months leading up to the Summit, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) conducted consultations on how to improve its Americas Strategy. Civil society urged the government to play a stronger role on issues such as democratic governance, corporate accountability and human rights.
“Civil society is hoping to see Prime Minister Harper signal a more genuine commitment to the Americas at the Summit,” says Julia Sanchez, president-CEO of the Canadian Council for International Cooperation.
The organizations consulted by the government have years of experience in Latin America and connections to thousands of women's, labour, human rights, peasant, church and indigenous organizations across the continent. They are well-positioned to advise Canada on how to become a more credible actor in the region.
Canada has been under fire for negotiating free trade agreements with countries that have poor human rights and democratic governance records. It has also been widely criticized for the performance of its extractive sector, which has too often been linked to death, displacement and environmental damage in Latin America.
“The Summit of the Americas is an opportunity for Canada to restore its status as a global champion for human rights,” says Brittany Lambert, Coordinator of the Americas Policy Group.
The following briefing notes summarize the concerns and recommendations that the Americas Policy Group, a coalition of approximately 40 Canadian NGOs, labour unions, research institutions, church and solidarity groups presented to the government on trade, mining, democratic governance and security.
The Americas Policy Group can recommend experts in both Canada and Colombia to speak to journalists about their expectations for the Summit and Canada’s role in the Americas.
-30-
For more information contact:
Brittany Lambert, Coordinator, Americas Policy Group, CCIC
Phone: 613-241-7007 x 333. Mobile: 613-608-0369. Email: blambert@ccic.ca
Chantal Havard, Government Relations and Communications Officer, CCIC
Phone: 613-241-7007 x 311. Email: chavard@ccic.ca
April 11, 2012
Canada's regional Americas strategy at a crossroads
By Beatriz Gonzalez, Rachel Warden, Julia Sánchez
via Embassy
In 2007, Prime Minister Stephen Harper designated Latin America as a foreign policy priority. He appointed a minister of state for the Americas and embarked on a high-profile visit to the region.
The record of action to date has been narrowly focused on trade, at the expense of deep engagement on such important issues as development, security, corporate accountability, democratic governance, and human rights.
Canada's narrow approach probably won't be well received at the upcoming Summit of the Americas, which is to take place in Colombia on April 14 and 15. It flies in the face of a tide of governments hungry for new, homegrown approaches to hemispheric co-operation and integration including Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador, Peru, Paraguay, and Bolivia.
Mr. Harper's trip to the summit, to which 34 heads of state are invited, is an opportunity for him to signal that Canada is willing to modify its approach.
April 4, 2012
North American leaders seek common trade and security agenda ahead of fractious G20 and Summit of the Americas meetings
By Stuart Trew
As far as North American leaders summits go, this week’s meeting in Washington, D.C. was low-profile, low on energy and even lower on inspiration. It seemed directed elsewhere, outside of continental concerns, as a preparation for the upcoming Summit of the Americas and G20 at the end of the month in Mexico, or as an opportunity for Prime Minister Harper and President Calderon to gang up on President Obama regarding entry of their countries into Trans-Pacific Partnership talks that the United States has all but seized complete control over.
If we were tempted to shrug our shoulders and say “what’s the point” of this show of camaraderie, a joint resolution from Canada’s federal and provincial privacy commissioners on the Canada-U.S. Beyond the Border Action plan woke us up to the dangers of “improving” the border on Obama’s security terms. The consequences for global trade and economic development talks could also be affected by this week’s events in Washington as a neoliberal bloc of mostly rich countries seeks ways to undermine Global South efforts to rebalance the global economic order.
Obama, Harper and Calderon had not met like they did Monday since 2009, when Security and Prosperity Partnership talks were put into cold storage by the new U.S. president. An economic crisis which the world continues to struggle out out of put the neoliberal idea at the heart of greater North American economic integration on life support. The languid joint declaration from yesterday’s summit stays faithful to that particular North American project in the name of job creation. A 2012 NAFTA Commission meeting alongside the leaders summit also issued its joint declaration on regulatory harmonization, changes to Rules of Origin, and other tweaks designed to improve supply chain flows across borders.
But the reality is that despite continental trade surpassing $1 trillion last year, economic and social inequality is on the rise in all three countries. Trade doesn’t trickle down — we’ve known this for years. Neither harmonizing chemicals and nanotechnology regulations nor opening up more land to oil and gas exploration will create enough jobs to matter for North America. Ditto for high tech security fixes at the border or beyond. We’re talking marginal economic gains at the margins that will be entirely soaked up by a corporate bureaucracy known globally now as the 1 per cent while the overall crisis continues.
April 2, 2012
Obama and North American Counterparts Keep it Low Profile at Today's Three Amigos Summit
Washington DC – In a very quiet meeting today, the White House hosted the “three amigos,” President Obama, Mexican President Felipe Calderon, and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. Unlike the days of President George W. Bush, there will be no photo-ops with sombreros or great fanfare this time.
A succinct White House press release of March 16th informed that “US President Barack Obama will host his Mexican counterpart Felipe Calderón and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper on April 2 for a North America summit.” The purpose of the meeting is to “exchange views ahead of the Summit of the Americas, set for April 14-15 in the Caribbean beach resort city of Cartagena.”
President Obama promised on the campaign trail (in February 2008) that his meetings with the leaders of Mexico and Canada, “unlike similar summits under President Bush,” would be “transparent” and would involve “citizens, labor, the private sector and non-governmental organizations in setting the agenda and making progress.” However, not even the agenda of this summit has been made public.
The White House states that the “The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) signatories will focus on economic growth and competitiveness, citizen security, energy and climate change." Notwithstanding that these are all issues in which the civil society organizations of the three countries have deep concerns and much to say, they are not involved.
For Immediate Release
March 21, 2012
Murder of Indigenous Opponent to Canadian Mine Sparks Protest at Canadian Embassy in Mexico City
While Mexican organizations protest in front of the Canadian Embassy Wednesday against the murder of an indigenous leader, Canadian NGOs call for a full investigation, respect for indigenous rights, and an end to corporate impunity.
On March 15th, Bernardo Vásquez Sánchez, an Indigenous Zapotec community leader and member of the Coordinating Committee of the United Peoples of the Valley of Ocotlán (CPUVO) in San José del Progreso, Oaxaca, was murdered in an ambush by a group of some three gunmen. His brother Alvaro Andrés Vásquez Sánchez and local activist Rosalinda Vásquez were also wounded and remain in hospital. Bernardo was an outspoken leader against the mining operations of Vancouver-based Fortuna Silver Mines in San José del Progreso, Oaxaca, known locally by the name of its Mexican subsidiary, Minera Cuzcatlán.
“A man deeply involved in the protest against Canadian mining company Fortuna Silver and its impact on local water sources has been murdered,” said Maude Barlow, national chairperson of the Council of Canadians. “Legislation in Canada is desperately needed so that when human, environmental and labour rights are violated outside our country those directly affected have some recourse through the Canadian court system.”
Photo Credit: The Roberto Stefani - Centro Prodh
- Read the entire release -en español
For Immediate Release
March 15, 2012
Two years on, Canadian government silent on Blackfire case of corruption and murder in Chiapas, Mexico
(Ottawa/Toronto) Two years after filing a complaint with the RCMP for corruption allegations against Calgary-based Blackfire Resources, a group of Canadian civil society organizations would like to know where Canadian authorities stand on the company's controversial operations in Chiapas, Mexico. But, after an eighteen-month wait, a request for information to the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade under the Access to Information Act is still unanswered.
Documents obtained in late 2009 by Common Frontiers, MiningWatch Canada, the United Steelworkers and others indicated that Blackfire had been paying into the personal bank account of a former mayor of the municipality of Chicomuselo, Chiapas, where the company operated a barite mine. On March 10, 2010, nine Canadian civil society organizations filed a complaint with the RCMP under the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act. National press revealed this past summer that the federal police have undertaken investigations with reports of a raid on the company's Calgary offices. No charges have yet been laid.
March 12, 2012
The Trans-Pacific Partnership
(TPP)
Who stands to benefit from TPP?
The Trans-Pacific Partnership is a multilateral Free Trade Agreement that
seeks to further liberalize the economies of the Asia-Pacific region.
Its proponents refer to it as “next-generation trade agreement” that will enhance trade and investment by eliminating tariffs, promoting innovation, economic growth and development, and helping to create jobs.” But critics have challenged all these assertions given the negative impact up to now of trade and investment treaties on human rights, environmental policy, social equality and real economic opportunity. Others have questioned whether the TPP is about trade at all or whether it is simply a political tool of the Obama administration – the economic wing of “America’s Pacific Century,” which includes political and military containment of China in the region.
There are nine countries in the TPP negotiations; Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Malaysia, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, Vietnam, and the U.S Since the APEC summit in Honolulu in November 2011, three others have indicated they would like a seat at the table: Canada, Mexico and Japan. The Japanese government faces enormous public and political opposition to the TPP given demands that it remove protections to its auto sector and rice farmers as a condition of entry. Canada has also been asked to guarantee concessions in areas such as intellectual property and its supply management policies for some agricultural products.
- Download the complete poster (PDF 926 kb)
March 10, 2012
Wikileaks Cables Reveal Killing Hits Record Levels
Slaughter in Colombia
This article originally appeared Feb 23 on www.counterpunch.org
by DANIEL KOVALIK
For years, it has been believed that Guatemala led the Hemisphere in mass slaughter in the modern era, with 200,000 victims in the 1980’s – about 94% of them at the hands of the U.S.-backed state and its death squad allies. Very sadly, it appears that Colombia has shattered that record, and, as Wikileaks reveals, the U.S. is quite aware of this.
Thus, in a November 19, 2009 U.S. Embassy Cable, entitled, “2009-2010 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report,” the U.S. Embassy in Bogota acknowledges, as a mere aside, the horrific truth: 257,089 registered victims of the right-wing paramilitaries. And, as Human Rights Watch just reported in its 2012 annual report on Colombia, these paramilitaries continue to work hand-in-glove with the U.S.-supported Colombian military.
Even for those of us deeply involved in Colombia, this figure is staggering. The only time I saw such a figure before was in a book (Cocaine, Death Squads, and the War on Terror) which I recently reviewed on this site, and which cites one independent journalist for the claim that around 250,000 victims have been killed by the Colombian para-state. This book further claims that this number has been artificially lowered through mass graves and Nazi-style crematoria.
It appears now that the U.S. has been quite aware of this death toll for over two years, though this knowledge has done nothing to change U.S. policy toward Colombia — which is slated to receive over $500 million in military and police aid from the U.S. in the next two years — and certainly did nothing to prevent the Obama Administration from seeking and gaining passage of the Colombia Free Trade Agreement last year.
March 7, 2012
WIN! Toronto city council seeks exemption from Canada-EU trade deal
By Stuart Trew
Council of Canadians
In a surprising but welcome move, Toronto City Council voted Tuesday on a motion calling for the Ontario government to exclude Toronto from the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). The vote came down around 7 p.m. ET following a truly fascinating debate about free trade that included a passionate speech against NAFTA from conservative councillor David Shiner. Even the mayor’s brother, Doug Ford (another conservative), voted to support the exemption — proving the issues in CETA span traditional political lines and are uniting municipalities against parts of, and in some cases all of, the deal.
Shiner told council there’s “nothing in here” (the CETA) to demonstrate big jobs and economic benefits to Toronto. He even said he’d like to see the City favouring companies in the area more often, to give them opportunities to “bid on our needs.” He admitted “I may be breaking the mold some councillors have put me in” by raising doubts about the value of free trade deals to local manufacturing.
March 6, 2012
Peruvians oppose CIDA’s pro-mining initiative
By Rick Arnold
Former CF co-ordinator
“…I am writing to you to express our concern regarding a new tripartite development policy involving government, mining companies and non-governmental organizations that intends to facilitate mining investments in our southern countries”. Miguel Palacin Quispe the General Coordinator of CAOI (Andean Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations)
On September 29, 2011 Canada’s Minister of Cooperation, Bev Oda, announced three pilot projects to reduce poverty in Peru, Ghana, and Burkina Faso. The novel wrinkle in this announcement is a new willingness shown by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) to ‘partner’ with Canadian mining firms and with International Development NGOs to deliver ‘development’ projects to communities affected by Canadian mining activities overseas.
In the case of the new million dollar World Vision Canada-led project in Peru, CIDA is providing a 50/50 match for funding from Toronto-based Barrick Gold. "World Vision is grateful for the generous support the Government of Canada is offering for this project," said Dave Toycen, President and CEO of World Vision Canada. "It will help residents of Quirulvilca, Peru, especially women, youth, and people with disabilities, become more involved and influential in their own community planning. In addition to providing loans for people to start small businesses, there will be capacity-building for local leaders to ensure Quirulvilca follows a path of sustainable development in the long-term." However, public and private monies being channeled through agreeable NGOs is a controversial move and is being much discussed internally by Canada’s international development community.
The troika members behind the pilot project in Peru have avoided publicly going into any detail about this ‘development’ initiative - perhaps with good reason. Active opposition to Barrick Gold’s presence in the district of Quiruvilca in the department of La Libertad goes back several years. For example on the 9th of February, 2007 some 3,000 people demonstrated against ongoing Barrick operations in the district.
- read the entire article
- read an earlier version of this article from the March 5 edition of Embassy Magazine.
March 2, 2012
Media Release
Report unveils potentially devastating effects on Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) of CIDA's new funding mechanism
Ottawa, March 2, 2012 - A report documenting the impacts of the new funding mechanism at CIDA’s Partnerships with Canadians Branch on Canadian CSOs –and their partner organizations in developing countries- was launched today by the Canadian Council for International Co-operation and the Inter-Council Network. The report presents the results of a survey that was conducted in January 2012 and completed by 158 Canadian organizations involved in international development.
A major change was implemented in July 2010 in the way that the Partnerships with Canadians Branch (at CIDA) funds the programs of Canadian organizations in developing countries. The process moved from responsive programming, designed in close collaboration between CIDA officers and development organizations, to a competitive call for proposals mechanism, more directive and aligned with CIDA’s priorities.
A year and a half later, CSOs are competing amongst themselves and against new players (such as foundations) to receive CIDA funding. This situation goes against core tenants of development effectiveness, which requires time, predictability, trust and long term partnerships. In addition, results of the last calls for proposals have seen dozens of well-known, highly respected development organizations lose their funding, irrespective of their past, and usually exemplary, track record. Small organizations, that link Canadians across the country to international development issues, have been hit the hardest.
“CIDA needs to take a step back and re-assess the call for proposals mechanism”, says Julia Sanchez, President-CEO of the Canadian Council for International Co-operation.
- read the media release
- read the key findings of the report
- read the full report on the impacts of CIDA funding delays
February 27, 2012
More media coverage of CF events
Masochistic” Free Trade Agreements are Not a Win-Win for Canada
Final event of LACSN month of events
By Erika Del Carmen Fuchs - Toronto, Feb 27 - What does the erosion of democracy look like, and what can we do to stop it? On Thursday evening, three panelists talked about how free trade agreements negatively impact countries’ and citizen’s power, but also how countries and citizens are stopping this corporate power grab. Stuart Trew of Common Frontiers and Council of Canadians spoke of the power that the investor state dispute resolution clauses in trade treaties gives companies to sue countries. “It is a sadistic process,” Trew stated... -read full article
February 20, 2012
Media coverage of CF events
Indigenous Leadership Vital to Stopping Tar Sands and Pipelines: Environmental Justice Panel
By Erika Del Carmen Fuchs -
Toronto, Feb 16th - The Media- Co-op Community activists, environmentalists, First Nations and NGO organizers came together in Toronto to discuss strategies for social movements to work together to build a more environmentally just future. This included opposing the Canadian government's plans to build more pipelines to export tar-sands oil, and working towards joint strategies for Rio+20 a UN conference on sustainable development. In June of this year, indigenous peoples and social movements will converge in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to remind world leaders that they want systems change not climate change.... -read full article
Movement Report back: Environmental Justice and Solidarity
By Megan Kinch - February 18th - The environmental justice movement has been distinguished by practicality as opposed to a particular ideological or tactical frameworkfor action. This diversity was exemplified by Thursday’s panel- part of Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Month, which featured a broad range of tactics from direct action, to community organizing to put political pressure on governments, to indigenous resistance, all together on one panel, bound by a common cause... -read full article
February 10, 2012
Public Forum Eroding Democracy & Sovereignty: Corporate Trade, Investment, Free Trade Agreements & Resource Extraction in the Americas
Thursday, February 23, 7 p.m.
Ryerson University,
78 Victoria, Room POD 250
-Click poster at right for larger view
Featuring:
Manuel Pérez Rocha, Institute for Policy Studies in Washington and
Professor Anna Zalik, Faculty of Environmental Studies, York University
Stuart Trew, Common Frontiers, Council of Canadians
Event organized by the Latin American Caribbean Solidarity Network as part of the Latin America and Caribbean Solidarity Month.
February 6, 2012
Stop Canada’s Environmental Injustice: Building for the Future
Thursday, February 16, 7 p.m.
252 Bloor Street West, Toronto
OISE, Rm 2212
Speakers include:
Ben Powless, Indigenous Environmental Network
Raúl Burbano from Common Frontiers and
Brent Patterson, Council of Canadians (National Office), both just returned from the world Thematic Social Forum: Capitalist Crisis, Social and Environmental Justice in Porto Alegre, Brazil
Kim Kerridge, Greenpeace
Dave Vasey, Environmental Justice Toronto
Andrea Peloso, Code Pink
Challenges to Harper’s plans for more pipelines to export dirty Canadian tar-sands oil; opposition to mining injustice; protection of Ontario farmland from mega quarry destruction, safeguarding secure public water supplies, and more: environmentalists are active in many fields.
Yet Canada’s government remains among the worst promoters of environmental injustice. As we approach the June 2012 Rio+20 world conference on sustainable development, how can we best link and advance our common struggle for environmental and climate justice in Canada and internationally.
Organizers:
Common Frontiers, Toronto Bolivia Solidarity (action group of OPIRG Toronto)
Sponsors:
Latin American Caribbean Solidarity Network, Toronto Greater Workers Assembly International Solidarity Committee
Link to LACSM poster
January 31, 2012
Joint submission to the UN:
The activities of Canadian corporations on the lands of Indigenous peoples' in other countries
Common Frontiers has joined a long list of Indigenous peoples' organizations and NGO's in presenting a joint submission to the UN's Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Its 80th session is being held 13 February - 9 March 2012 in Geneva, Switzerland:
Our organizations are deeply concerned that Canada has failed to provide any information on corporate accountability in its latest reports to this Committee and has, in fact, failed to comply with the Committee’s recommendations or address the important human rights concerns that they reflect.
- read the entire report - PDF
January 24, 2012
On the ground in Porto Alegre
As global austerity policies promise more inequality and misery for the majority of people across the planet there continues to be innovative, pluralistic and vibrant global movements challenging the “system”. By linking local with global struggles they seek to transform society to a more just and equitable one.
Common Frontiers is in Porto Alegre (Brazil) from at the Thematic Social Forum: Capitalist Crisis, Social and Environmental Justice - Preparing the Peoples Summit Rio+20
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First Update - Tuesday, Jan 24, 2012
“adeus capitalism, adeus capitalism”
By Raul Burbano
CF Executive Director
The Thematic Social Forum (FST) (Portuguese acronym) got underway this week with various activities at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) campus and other metropolitan cities. The FST is a preparatory stage for the People's Summit in Rio +20, the UN conference on sustainable development which occurs in June 20-22 in Rio de Janeiro. It will be at Rio+20 that social movements will launch their proposals that they want to see implemented, and at the same time hold governments and institutions accountable for those and other commitments.
If the title of the forum, “Capitalist Crisis, Social and Environmental Justice” sets the tone for the groups and their discussions, the message is clear; we need to reinvent the world. The main themes are divided into larger areas dealing with various topics such as the green economy, water, science and technology, the commons etc. There’s also self-organized activities with free themes to allow for a pluralistic and diverse set of ideas and expression.
The welcoming event of the conference was low key with a group of close to 200 people from around the world gathered in a hot and dimly lit auditorium. We heard from the President of the Central Unica dos trabalhadores do Rio Grande do Sul (CUT/RS), Celso Woyciechowski. He was passionate in his discourse and touched on the need to develop a collective consciousness and the need to move away from individualism.
Sergio Haddad a member of the coordinating committee was emphatic that it was a pivotal moment for educators to reflect on the crisis impacting nations and the education system. His message was clear, the world was in crisis and educators have a pivotal role to play confronting and creating a more egalitarian educational system.
What energy was lacking in the opening session was certainly made up for in the opening march in the afternoon. As the afternoon sun blared down on those gathering at the Largo Glenio Peres Plaza the festive atmosphere began to unfold. More than 10,000 activists according to the Jornal do Comericao (a local newspaper) made their way through the heart of the city, up avenida Borges de Medeiros toward the Anfiteatro por do sol. The march lasted more than 2 hours and had the participation from diverse sectors of society life including students, unions, teachers, environmentalists, anarchists etc.
Protestors included a coffin caring procession of people dressed in black with their faces painted. In the coffins they had small tress to symbolize the death of forests. When asked why they were marching a member named “REX”, he said “we are marching to show that forests are dying, and that everything is interlinked, the water we drink and the air we breathe”.
As the rain clouds gathered above the crowds the energy continued to build. Even as a down pour fell on the crowds they continued to march and dance as if the elements did not exist. As the procession snaked its way along, one could hear a constant slogan “adeus capitalism adeus capitalism, (goodbye capitalism, goodbye capitalism).
- See more photos in our Gallery
January 18, 2012
Translation by Rick Arnold
Supporters of “The Other Campaign” declare their community closed to alcohol and drugs
They have also prohibited Canadian mining and forestry companies from coming in to exploit their territory, and in addition are accusing police authorities of protecting delinquents.
Hermann Bellinghausen, reporter
Published in La Jornada: 13/01/2012
San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas - Organized community members from Siltepec, located in the Sierra Madre of Chiapas, closed off access to the municipality to beer companies, distributors of alcohol and drugs, as well as to Canadian forestry and mining companies that are working their territory; in addition they closed down 18 cantinas and called into question the actions of the police, the mayor and the State’s Public Ministry, all of whom they accuse of protecting the delinquents.
As of Thursday (Jan. 12, 2012) they decided “to organize ourselves at the municipal administrative centre so as to be able to, in coordination with ejidos*, scattered rural dwellings, neighbourhoods and communities, exercise control over our territory without the intervention of political parties or government.”
The civil society organization Luz y Fuerza del Pueblo-Region Sierra, supporters of The Other Campaign, with a presence in 38 municipalities in the region, stated: “Our municipality, similar to most in Chiapas, is suffering from serious problems with alcoholism, too many bars, a proliferation of drugs and prostitution, the cutting of trees and the commercialization of the environment, facing the clandestine looting of minerals by Canadian mining companies in the Honduras Ejido and in the community of Las Nubes in the Toquian Grande Ejido, while the companies attempt to intervene in others"
-Read the entire article -Enlace al artículo original
January 16, 2012
Mexican Government fails to protect its Citizens
Common Frontiers has published an open letter to the Mexican Government:
For the past two decades Mexico has experienced devastating social, economic, and political impacts as a result of policy choices made by its government.
Changes made to land tenure systems, agricultural support and privatization in the years leading to the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), as well as the impacts of the trade deal itself, had harsh consequences for Mexicans.
. . . We stand in solidarity and support of movements, organizations and communities in Mexico that have organized for a more dignified and just life, but also against the escalating violence.
- Read the entire letter -en español
January 13, 2012
Help VALE win the "Worst Company in the World" award - vote now
VALE is in the running for the "prize" of being named the "Worst Company in the World" by the Public Eye Awards. The prize will be awarded during the Annual World Economic Forum, that brings together corporate and government elites in Davos, Switzerland.
You can vote here, to show your disgust for the way this powerful Brazilian-based company carries out its operations in 38 countries throughout the world.
Behind its fabulously high profit levels and clever image control lies a sad story of union bashing, hiding workplace accidents, environmental devastation and running roughshod over local communities impacted by its mines and plants.
And now there should be lots of spaces before and after where this kind of thing can go.
- Find out why VALE deserves this award
January 10, 2012
The Trans-Pacific Partnership Free Trade Agreement Unions Demand Fair Trade NOW!
The governments negotiating the TPP FTA can and must do better. Trade unions demand a seat at the table and an agreement that fully protects the rights of workers producing the goods and services traded in the global economy. The complete text of the joint trade union labor chapter proposal is available online here.
The TPP FTA Unions have prepared four Fact Sheets for more information.To view them, click on the titles below:
Investment Fact Sheet - PDF
Labour Fact Sheet - PDF
Public Health Fact Sheet - PDF
Public Services Fact Sheet - PDF
December 14, 2011
CETA - top ten reasons why it’s bad for Canada
Hey Canada, heard of the CETA yet? No? It's not surprising!
Once again, our federal and provincial government and business leaders are negotiating a "free trade" deal behind the backs of canadians. This time, it's called the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA for short. It will change the face of Canada as we know it, and Harper wants to sign it in a hurry - before anyone has a chance to debate it!
Want to know more?
Click on the image at the right to check out the comic book about the issue put together by the Trade Justice Network.
Drop them a note for more information.
December 9, 2011
Betty Matamoros Toronto - Honduras Solidarity tour
A video report of the Honduran based social activist and representative of the Central American coordination of the Hemispheric Social Alliance (HSA) visit to Toronto.
December 7, 2011
The Marmato Gold Dispute
Three articles have been produced by ENS (Escuela Nacional Sindical) about the ongoing dispute between the people of Marmato, Caldas, in Colombia, and a mining conglomerate that wants to launch a massive strip mine and demolish the village.
The Marmato Gold Dispute
Trilogy
(PDFfiles)
1 - A return to the colonial period?
-en español
2 - The guacheros:strong and united to defend their work
-en español
3 - “We are not leaving”
-en español
December 5, 2011
Canadian Civil Society Decries Government Inaction on Climate Change
There comes a time when disdain towards the Canadian government’s lack of morality on the issue of climate change needs to be expressed clearly. We, the undersigned civil society organizations, feel that time now. There is no question that the planet is facing a serious climate change crisis that requires leadership from all national governments including our own. Instead of positive efforts to confront the crisis in an equitable and morally acceptable way, we have witnessed Canadian government inaction and attempts to undermine climate change policy.
- Read the entire statement in English en français
See also: The System Change Not Climate Change Project - a multi-media tool for climate justice organized by the Council of Canadians’ Climate Justice for People and the Planet campaign.
December 5, 2011
Global Investment Rules: Threat to Democracy and the Environment
Around the world, citizens have been mobilizing to defend their environment and economic sovereignty from transnational corporations, but there is another threat lurking in the shadows that can ride roughshod over our rights. This is a video of the Network for Justice in Global Investment
www.justinvestment.org
November 25, 2011
Mining watchdog agency called 'bogus PR job'
A new CBC video report "Inside the Mining Industry" looks at problems with Canada's mining watchdog agency:
"A mining watchdog agency that was supposed to hold Canadian companies accountable for their actions overseas has done little to protect communities abroad, critics say."
-Watch the video here or click on the image at right
UPCOMING EVENT
November 18, 2011
Coups, free trade & human rights
The changing face of Canadian foreign policy in Latin America & the Caribbean
FRIDAY, November 18 @ 7:00 – 9:00pm
Beit Zatoun House , 612 Markham Street, Toronto
Public Forum / Free Admission
Facebook Event Page: http://on.fb.me/sR5OR9
(Click on pic for larger image)
Guest speakers:
BETTY MATAMOROS: A Honduran based social activist and representative of the Central American coordination of the Hemispheric Social Alliance, specifically as part of their campaign "Foreign Military Bases out of Latin America - We are a Region of Peace." She has been organizing with social movements regionally on trade and militarization issues for decades and has been key in building international solidarity with the non-violent resistance movement in Honduras that emerged following the coup d'état in June of 2009. She is the former international relations coordinator of the Honduras National Resistance Front, FNRP. She has traveled throughout the Americas and Europe speaking about the situation in Honduras since the coup with respect to human rights, political developments, trade, and militarization.
KEVIN EDMONDS: Is a U of T PhD student and freelance journalist who has also traveled to and reported on Haiti – including serving as a volunteer observer in Haiti’s last election with the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti. He co-authored recently released report on the UN in Haiti called “MINUSTAH: Keeping the peace, or conspiring against it?” Published through the Harvard School of Public Health and is a review of the human rights record on the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti from 2010-2011.
VIDEO - The Deadliest Place in the World for a Journalist - Mini-documentary on the Honduran journalists that have watched 15 colleagues assassinated in 19 months ~ by Jesse Freeston
Organized by: Common Frontiers, Toronto Haiti Action Committee and Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network
To endorse this event contact: lacsncanada@gmail.com
- Watch a video report
UPCOMING EVENT
November 17, 2011
Honduras Resists
Solidarity with the People of Honduras
THURSDAY, November 17 @ 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
OPSEU, 100 Lesmill Road ( Leslie/York Mills )
(Click on pic for larger image)
Free Admission / RSVP: bwall@opseu.org
Meet Betty Matamos: informal lunch & learn
Betty is an organizer with social movements on human rights, trade and militarization issues and has been key in building international solidarity with the non-violent resistance movement in Honduras following the coup d’état in June of 2009.
Organized by: OPSEU, Common Frontiers and Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network
November 4, 2011
Civil Society Statement Calling on the G-20 to Embed Human Rights in Financial Regulatory and Climate Change Decisions
Common Frontiers has joined civil society organziations from around the world in calling on the G-20 leaders for action. An excerpt is below.
We are writing to the Group of 20 Leaders, in advance of their upcoming Summit in Cannes, to remind them that even in the policies of a most eminently economic nature, their duties to respect, protect and fulfill the economic, social, cultural, civil and political human rights, including the right to development, do not cease, but should take primacy in every commitment they undertake.
In particular, we are demanding action on the following issues on the agenda of the G20:
- Endorsement of worldwide stimuli measures according to human rights principles;
- Reforms to prevent speculative activity in financial markets from undermining the enjoyment of human rights;
- Action to limit the damage to public funding of financial institutions that collapse due to excessive risk-taking;
- Regulations of bank capital requirements consistent with human rights standards;
- Agreement to increase the relative fiscal pressure on the banking sector and to cooperate to increase transparency and mutual accountability in revenue mobilization;
- An agreement to drastically reduce greenhouse emissions which contribute to climate change.
-Read the entire statement (PDF)
For Immediate Release
October 20, 2011
Over 80 European and Canadian organizations demand an end to Canada-EU free-trade talks
Ottawa, October 20, 2011 – Today, as a 9th round of Canada-EU free trade talks comes to an end in Ottawa, over 80 European and Canadian civil society groups demanded that political leaders on both sides of the Atlantic stop negotiating the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) and release the offers now.
“Our organizations say NO to this agreement, which has been negotiated for the sole benefit of transnational corporations at the expense of people's rights and of the protection of the environment,” says the declaration.
“Neither the European Union nor Canada has ever informed their populations of what is really at stake in these negotiations,” it continues. “Requests and offers from each party have never been discussed nor revealed to the public. These negotiations are thus clearly a total denial of democracy.”
Today, International Trade Minister Ed Fast announced that Canada and the EU had successfully exchanged offers on services and investment. This follows an exchange of provincial and EU member state procurement and goods offers during the last round in Brussels this past July. Neither set of offers will be made public or subject to debate prior to the signing of a final deal, which the Harper government has said it would like to do early in 2012.
The joint statement released today by Canadian and European civil society concludes that “trade agreements must promote cooperation and recognize common well-being, public interest, and human and environmental rights as more important than short-term private interests which benefit only transnational corporations.” Instead, CETA “would encourage the privatization of the public sector, weaken and prevent social, health and environmental regulations, and protect investors' rights at the expense of democratic rights.
“We therefore ask Canadian federal and provincial representatives, as well as representatives from the European Parliament and from the different national parliaments to refuse to ratify the CETA, and to act in total transparency regarding this agreement which is selling off our social rights, threatening environmental regulations and, more generally speaking, democracy itself.”
To read the statement, entitled “Free-trade agreement between the European Union and Canada: Corporations Must Not Make the Law,” see http://tradejustice.ca.
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More information:
Stuart Trew, for the Trade Justice Network, 647-222-9782; TJN.RCJ@gmail.com
Pierre-Yves Serinet, for the Réseau québécois sur l’intégration continentale (RQIC): rqic@ciso.qc.ca, 514-276-1075
Media Release
October 20, 2011
European parliament urged to ignore Canadian lobbying, protect fuel quality directive from Canada-EU trade deal
The Council of Canadians today sent a letter to all Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) urging them to ignore Canadian pressure when they are asked to vote, as early as December 2, on an important fuel quality policy that rightly lists all tar sands crude as more polluting than conventional oil. The organization warns European decision makers that unless they also carve out the Fuel Quality Directive from the Canada-EU free trade negotiations, they risk legal challenges by Canadian or European oil firms through a proposed investor-state dispute process proposed by Canada.
"The Harper government has made it painfully clear it does not care about protecting the environment, respecting Indigenous rights in the tar sands region or the right of democratically elected governments to decide how they want to transition away from dirty fuel. By opposing the Fuel Quality Directive, Harper is working for the rich oil companies while ignoring the facts in front of us about climate change," says Andrea Harden-Donahue, energy and climate justice campaigner with the Council of Canadians, explaining why the organization wrote to the European parliament today.
The Council along with a number of other Canadian and European civil society organizations have consistently exposed the Canadian government's lobbying against listing tar sands as a high-carbon fuel in the Fuel Quality Directive, which would discourage tar sands crude from entering the European market. Today in the UK, London School of Economics students and activists presented Joe Oliver, Canada's natural resources minister, with the 'Greenwash Propagandist of the Year Award' for his efforts to contort the science, dismiss the human consequences of tar sands extraction and to re-brand the world's most destructive project as secure, reliable and sustainable.
The Council of Canadians has also been opposing the Canada-EU free trade negotiations, partly because a proposed investment chapter in the deal would give oil companies new tools with which to undermine or block climate policies they don't like, in the EU and Canada. The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives proposes in a new report on the Fuel Quality Directive that EU decision makers must cave out the policy from the Canada-EU trade deal.
"Harper is threatening to take the EU to the WTO if tar sands are listed as more polluting in the new fuel policy. We say let them. It is more important for the EU to carve out its policy, and preferably all climate measures, from an impending Canada-EU free trade agreement," adds Stuart Trew, Council of Canadians trade campaigner. "If oil companies are given the power to sue the EU like investors can sue governments under NAFTA and other trade agreements, it is almost a guarantee they will do so to challenge environmental, public health or other social policies that threaten their profits in dirty oil."
The Conservatives have the support of governments in France, the Netherlands and the UK in their corporate campaign against the Fuel Quality Directive. Not surprisingly, these countries are home to Total, Shell and BP respectively. These firms have considerable investment in the Alberta tar sands and would benefit from strong investment protections in the Canada-EU trade deal.
-Read the letter to MEPs (PDF)
-Read the legal opinion on CETA and the tar sands (PDF)
-Read the new CCPA report on tar sands and CETA
For More information:
Dylan Penne, media officer, Council of Canadians: 613-795-8685
dpenner@canadians.org
For Immediate Release
October 8, 2011
The alliance between the indigenous peoples and trade unions in Latin America
Discrimination, feudal exploitation, poverty, isolation, forced labour...the indi- genous peoples of Latin America are marginalised and with trade union support denounce the pillage of their ancestral lands.
Reports about the Marlin gold mine in Guatemala and the El Chaco region in Paraguay. Testimony from Brazil. The trade union priority is the implementation of ILO Conventions 169 and 29, particularly in relation to international trade agreements.
-Read these stories and more in Union View #23 (PDF)
For Immediate Release
October 4, 2011
Tar sands value in EU fuel quality policy despite Canadian lobbying is a positive step, says Council of Canadians
MEDIA RELEASE: By Andrea Harden-Donahue
The Council of Canadians commends today’s European Commission decision to assign a higher carbon emission value to crude from the tar sands than other fossil fuels under the EU’s proposed Fuel Quality Directive. The organization will be encouraging EU member states, notably the UK and Netherlands, not to challenge the policy when they must vote on the directive in a few months.
“It appears that the heavy handed lobbying on the part of our government has backfired,” says Andrea Harden-Donahue, Energy and Climate Justice Campaigner with the Council of Canadians. “This decision affirms that Europe is headed in the right direction, unlike the Harper government.”
The Council of Canadians along with a number of other Canadian and European civil society organizations, have consistently exposed the Canadian government’s lobbying against listing tar sands as a high-carbon fuel in the FQD, which would discourage tar sands crude from entering the European market. The organization has also been opposing the Canada-EU free trade negotiations, partly because a proposed investment chapter in the deal would give oil companies new tools with which to undermine or block climate policies they don’t like.
“The Harper government has already made veiled trade-based threats in response to transportation policy that rightfully recognizes the high carbon content of tar sands crude and we know the Canada-European trade negotiations have been a venue for lobbying,” says Stuart Trew, Trade Campaigner with the Council of Canadians. “The EU Commission should listen to its parliament and its own sustainability assessment to reject an investor-state process in CETA which could allow corporate challenges to totally legitimate and badly needed climate or public health protection measures.”
A ninth and possibly final round of Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement negotiations will take place in Ottawa, October 17 to 21. The Council of Canadians is helping to plan a week of action against the deal with other Trade Justice Network allies.
For More Information:
Andrea Harden-Donahue, Council of Canadians: (613)-218-5800; aharden@canadians.org
Questions: comfront@web.ca
September 16, 2011
Canadian Embassy urged to take action on murder of Colombian priest
Common Frontiers has added its voice to a large list of organizations that have signed a letter sent to the Canadian Ambassador to Colombia urging it to cooperate fully in the investigation of a parish priest.
Dear Ambassador des Rivieres:
In response to news of the murder of Father Jose Reinel Restrepo, parish priest of the municipality of Marmato in the department of Caldas, Colombia, we would like to express our deep sadness and to raise our concern that Canadian mining companies may well be aggravating or benefiting from violence in this area. We ask that the Canadian Embassy cooperate with investigations to ensure that the facts surrounding Restrepo’s murder are brought to light, and to guarantee that Canadian mining companies operating in Colombia are not causing, aggravating, or benefiting from violence and human rights violations.
For more info, contact:
Jennifer Moore, Latin America Program Coordinator, MiningWatch Canada, 613-569-3439
-Read the full text of the letter-PDF
May 24, 2011
“Forward ever, Backward never!”
CF Member Stuart Trew recently represented Common Frontiers at the Movement for Social Justice founding conference in Trinidad and Tobago. Here's an excerpt from his report, with a link to the full report below.
Between May 11 and 15, Common Frontiers-Canada joined progressive political leaders and social movements from across the hemisphere at the founding congress of an exciting new political voice in Trinidad and Tobago – the Movement for Social Justice. The MSJ is a labour and mass movement-based political party which threw its hat into the ring during last year’s national elections, winning one seat and receiving one senatorial appointment inside a coalition government calling itself the People’s Partnership. The founding congress was an opportunity for MSJ to commemorate this victory, approve a constitution and draft policy for the party, and to discuss with international allies the political and economic climate that will determine its movement building activities, nationally and regionally, toward the next elections and beyond.
Download the entire report as a PDF PDF-4.9 MB
April 27, 2011
For Immediate Release
Elections 2011
Canada’s Free Trade agenda: Dissing democracy and rewarding despots
(Montreal and Ottawa, April 27, 2011) – Since coming to power the minority government of Stephen Harper has vigorously pursued preferential free trade with despots abroad and spared no quarter for democracy at home, says a broad group of Canadian organizations which are demanding a new foreign policy and trade approach by the next government.
The Harper government is moving stealthily and quickly to complete the biggest trade deal Canada has ever seen with the European Union, which will fundamentally reshape our national and local economies while undermining environmental policy, public services and democratic decision making. Harper has also rewarded foreign investors for suing Canada under the North American Free Trade Agreement’s investor-state provisions while Canadian investors applaud Canada’s trade negotiations with some of this hemisphere’s worst human rights abusers such as Colombia and Honduras.
We, civil society networks and organizations from Canada and Quebec say that’s enough!
Read the entire media release PDF-72 kb en français PDF-112kb en español
March 22, 2011
Guest Comment
$130 million NAFTA payout sets troubling precedent
By Scott Sinclair
Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives
Why should a provincial government be punished for doing the right thing?
That's a question the citizens of Newfoundland and Labrador - and all Canadians - should be asking themselves in the aftermath of last summer's decision by the Harper government to pay AbitibiBowater $130 million to settle a NAFTA lawsuit.
Recently, the Commons Standing Committee on International Trade held hearings into the NAFTA settlement. Property rights advocates loudly complained that Ottawa shouldn't have to foot the bill for the “irresponsible actions” of the Danny Williams government.
Yet the Newfoundland and Labrador government's actions in this matter were lawful, constitutional and commendable. The same can't be said for the conduct of the federal government.
March 11, 2011
For Immediate Release
First Anniversary Update on Complaint filed with RCMP over Canadian Mining Company’s Apparent Involvement in Mexican Corruption Case
A year ago today a coalition of nine Canadian non-governmental groups* filed a memo with the RCMP asking that Calgary-based Blackfire Exploration Ltd. and its Mexican subsidiary be investigated under the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act. Blackfire had been in the news since November 27, 2009, when Mariano Abarca Roblero, a prominent anti-mining activist, was shot to death in front of his home in Chicomuselo, in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. In the year since the complaint was filed there have been further developments related to Blackfire’s open-pit barite mine there.
December 26, 2010
Cancun Climate Summit
“Change the System, Not the climate”
Report from the International Forum on Climate Justice – Cancun, Dec. 5-10, 2010
For six days between Dec 6th and 10th hundreds of Mexican and International organizations collaborated to hold the International Forum on Climate Justice (IFCJ) in Cancun, Mexico. This event ran parallel to the official 16th meeting under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – commonly referred to as COP-16.
The IFCJ events were held at Super Manzana 21 (Manzana = Block) in Cancun, a complex that included a gym, cultural centre and some open land where large meeting tents were pitched. Opening day (December 5th) began with a couple of panels that were introductory in nature, structured to accommodate a varied knowledge base among those in attendance. John Dillon from KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives, spoke on the second panel addressing the topic of ‘Free Trade and Climate Change’. Not surprisingly, the Canadian tar sands debacle came in for more than one mention! Following this panel John also chaired a small group discussion that looked at the international financial system and its responsibility for the climate crisis. The three panels held on December 6th focused on natural resources, forests, and indigenous nations.
Read the complete report - (PDF 2.6MB) en français
View some photos from the Forum in our Gallery
December 11, 2010
Cancun Climate Summit
COP 16 ends: Cancun climate change talks disappoint global expectations
In the early morning hours of December 11, 2010 a COP 16 Accord was
announced. However the text of this Accord did not represent an advance on
what came out of last year´s "Copenhagen Accord", and instead signalled an
acceptance of the earlier ´agreement´ thereby evading any real solutions
to the climate change crisis.
- Read the entire Dec 11 report en español
December 6, 2010
Cancun Climate Summit
HSA Report From Cancun:
Balance after the first week of the COP 16: the significant threat of a Copenhagen Plus Accord
Following the first week of negotiations in Cancun, the key conclusion that civil society groups have reached is that the same actors behind the Copenhagen Accord are the ones who continue to collude – this has been their plan from the beginning – to put the negotiations into a blind alleyway. It is necessary to spell out what is happening in these climate change negotiations and to get the word out internationally regarding the risks at play. In last year´s COP 15 in Denmark, finalizing the draft agreement only kicked into high gear just as the Presidents were arriving, some three days before the negotiations were scheduled to end.
- Read the entire Dec 6 report en español
For Immediate Release
November 29, 2010
Second Postmedia newspaper refuses ‘In Memoriam’ for killed Mexican opponent of Canadian mine
An ‘In Memoriam’ classified ad to be run on November 27 on behalf of the family of murdered anti-mining activist Mariano Abarca R. was called "unsuitable" by the Calgary Herald, and then ‘propaganda’ by a representative of the Edmonton Journal although other Canadian newspapers including the Globe and Mail have published it.
For Immediate Release
November 26, 2010
‘In Memoriam’ for murdered Mexican anti-mining activist refused by Calgary Herald
An ‘In Memoriam’ classified ad to be run on November 27th on behalf of the family of murdered anti-mining activist Mariano Abarca R. has been called "unsuitable" by the Calgary Herald, though several other Canadian newspapers, including the Globe and Mail and the Edmonton Journal, have agreed to print it. - UPDATE - Late on Nov 26, The Edmonton Jounal informed Common Frontiers that it would also refuse to print the item.
"We are confused about why the Calgary Herald would refuse a paid ‘In Memoriam’ on the anniversary of the death of Mariano Abarca. Former employees of Blackfire Exploration, a Calgary-based firm, are in jail in Chiapas, Mexico awaiting court appearances related to his murder. We sincerely hope the Herald is not simply trying to avoid controversy from a local company," says Rick Arnold, coordinator of Common Frontiers.
Cancun, December 5-10, 2010
International Forum on Climate Justice
The People’s Dialogue
Civil society organizations, social movements, nationally and internationally organized indigenous communities together in coordination with international networks and organizations and constituted as an International Committee call for discussion, mobilization and intervention in the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP-16) in the city of Cancun, Mexico, December 3-11. This mobilization will be accompanied by a number of activities in Mexico and around the world and will include the national and international caravans that are expected to arrive in Cancun.
- Read the full document that includes Dec 5-10 Cancun Program (PDF 98kb)
November 16, 2010
To all communities affected by Canadian mining operations:
As Canadians, we deeply regret the failure of our Members of Parliament to hold mining companies accountable for their human rights records and environmental practices abroad and to hold our government accountable for the financial and political support it provides to Canadian mining companies. On October 27, 2010, Bill C-300, entitled the Corporate Accountability of Mining, Oil or Gas in Developing Countries Act, was narrowly defeated in the House of Commons by a vote of 140-134. If the bill had passed it would have created a framework of human rights and environmental standards for Canadian extractive companies operating in developing countries.
- Read the entire letter in English(PDF 74kb) en español(PDF 49kb)
November 11, 2010
G-20 meeting in Seoul - the Hemispheric Social Alliance calls for real change
Since 2008, a date that marked the beginning of the most recent global crisis that started off in the U.S., the G-20 has unilaterally taken over the role as the key forum charged with global problem solving without either taking into account the other 172 countries represented in the United Nations, or listening to diverging opinion and analysis such as that represented in the Stiglitz report.
In its early days the G-20 debated themes such as development, employment and the environment with even some talk of fundamental solutions that would challenge the underpinnings of the international financial architecture such as regulating financial markets, combating fiscal paradises and the illicit flow of capital, and promoting the idea of a financial transaction tax. But over time we have witnessed that more conservative proposals have gained the upper hand based on the assumption that market forces are either resolving the crisis already, or have the capacity to do so.
- Read the English translation of the HSA declaration
August 19, 2010
Americas Social Forum (ASF)
Asuncion, Paraguay Aug 11 - 15
The most recent Americas Social Forum (ASF) took place in Asuncion, Paraguay August 11-15, 2010. Compared to some of the more massive (and chaotic) Social Forums of the previous decade, this version was a more intimate gathering of many of the key social forces from around our hemisphere. This event took place against a backdrop of uncertainty facing Paraguay and its social democratic President Fernando Lugo. Some feel that Paraguay may be next in line for a Honduras-style coup to return power to the oligarchy, a situation which may have been compounded by Lugo's recent diagnosis of lymphoma cancer. However Lugo got out of his hospital bed in Sao Paulo on August 14 and flew back to Asuncion in time to give a stirring speech that same afternoon to Social Forum participants that had packed a downtown gymnasium to hear him. This Social Forum also featured a colourful 8 kilometer march from one side of the capital city to city hall on the other, as well as dozens of self-generated workshops held mostly in tents set up for the purpose.
- Download a short report from the ASF in Paraguay with photos (PDF - 6.9MB)
July 15, 2010
Colombian Action Network on Free Trade
Free Trade Agreement with Canada
is Bad News for Colombia
Contrary to the euphoria displayed by the government of Uribe Velez over the ratification of the FTA with Canada, a glee that was also parroted by Colombian media outlets owned by foreign multinationals, this Treaty is bad news for the people of Colombia.
It is not true, as the Ministry of Commerce claims, that sales by Colombia to Canada will grow because of access to a large market. Exports to Canada don’t even represent 1% of the national total, and if we haven’t been exporting more it is not because of the lack of an FTA, but rather that the country just doesn’t produce what Canadians are interested in buying.
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July 1, 2010
Witnessing resistance in Honduras
Quixote Centre Honduras Delegation update July 1st, 2010
Caitlin Power Hancey, Atlantic Regional Solidarity Network (ARSN)
This is the second report from Honduras by Caitlin Power Hancey, who was one of the Canadian delegates on a bi-national delegation.
The Honduran resistance movement is real—it is also strong, diverse, and decidedly non-violent.
This is the last day of our international accompaniment and observation delegation to Honduras. For the past week our delegation has been busy accompanying a range of events leading up to the anniversary of the coup on June 28th, or “the anniversary active of popular resistance in Honduras.” We also continued meetings with representatives from various sectors active in the resistance movement—including women’s rights organizations, LGBTI coalitions, youth groups, academics, teacher’s unions, and peace-building organizations.
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