CF letter to David Emerson
September 18, 2008
In light of the government’s recently developed Voices at Risk: Guidelines for supporting human rights defenders, this roundtable discussion proposes to examine the conflicts that arise between Canada’s ‘economic diplomacy’ to facilitate the operations of Canadian mining companies abroad and its human rights obligations to land and water defenders speaking out about the harms they are experiencing – or trying to avoid – from the operations of many of these very same companies. With visiting guests from Mexico and Thompson Rivers University, B.C., this discussion aims to deepen debate, research and action towards consistent compliance with Canada’s human rights obligations, which includes the duty to protect human rights from abuse by state and non-state parties.
