WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT CANADIAN MINING ABROAD?

I am thinking about how Canadian mining has been part of my life. My earliest memories are of slag heaps. Piles of broken rock. I was raised to the age of 10 in Cobalt. Our first house was not far from the "Glory Hole," and I can still remember being excited by the shiny golden colour of pyrite. We played among the old shafts and mine workings.

My grandfather spent his working life in the hard rock Hollinger Mine in Timmins. This mine was a major producer of gold. Grandpa supported his wife and nine children working right through the time of the recession. Our family owes its life to the mining industry.

So I want to be proud of Canadian mining. I even sang the Cobalt song in public:

"For we'll sing a little song of Cobalt
.   If you don't live there it's your own fault
.   
Oh you Cobalt
   Where the wintry breezes blow.  
Where all the silver comes from.
   And you live a life and then some
.   
Oh you Cobalt
.   You're the best old town I know."

I ask the question: WHAT ARE YOUR GOOD CONNECTIONS WITH CANADIAN MINING? 

An Ottawa Sun article tells me that "most of the world's 1,800 mining and exploration companies are headquartered in Canada. They employ more than 300,000 people in about 100 countries." Then I went to Mexico.  Let me recall my blog from January past:

"DO CANADIANS CARE ENOUGH? After this morning's talk by a speaker from otrosmundos organization I am reluctant to tell people here in Mexico that I am from Canada. Thanks to our Canadian mining companies we Canadians are perceived as polluters and bullies. NAFTA allows Canadian mining companies to overule Mexican domestic environmental laws and local community concerns; Canadian executives take advantage of this instrument of exploitation. People have died and will die in future because our companies make money the bottom line. With our Canadian mining expertise and some respect for local conditions we could in turn earn respect. Bill C-300, a private members bill tabled by Liberal Member of Parliament John McKay, proposed giving the government authority to investigate complaints against resources companies operating abroad, and to withhold public money from offenders. The bill was narrowly defeated. Shame. But my guess, along with that of M.P. John McKay, is that parliament will have to return to this issue. Canada as a whole is losing too much respect from the behaviour of the mining companies. As our speaker from otrosmundos detailed the damage Canadian mining companies have done I thought back to my childhood in Cobalt. Cobalt was the world's biggest silver producer back in the early 1900's. It was the strike that led to many others in the Canadian shield and was where Canadians had their first lessons in hard rock mining. Our house was set on the hill above what we called "Poison Lake." It was a gray green pond of sludge. As children we played along the edges of the lake and on top of the mounds of tailings. Today I read that arsenic was associated with the cobalt ore from which the silver was extracted. Water around Cobalt is polluted. Children are warned away. When my wife and I moved to Belleville, friends who had heard what local doctors were saying told us to install a water purifier in our home. There are mines to the north of Belleville. In past studies have shown a high level of arsenic in the Moira River. A close friend wonders whether it was Belleville water that caused her cancer. When I lived north of Lake Huron near Espanola, Anishnabe men who had worked in the Sudbury mines talked about the damage done them from years drawing in the dust from the mines. We catch on late about the damage done our own people and to the environment. Having some sense of what it means to run a environmentally safe mining site do we forget our learning? Does it make sense to have no corporate accountability and export death to other areas of the world? Shame. To see who was absent from the Bill C-300 vote and to learn how members voted go to http://howdtheyvote.ca/vote.php?id=940."

HOW HAS YOUR EVALUATION OF CANADIAN MINING CHANGED OVER TIME?

Groups like MiningWatchCanada and BarrickProtest.org have kept the spotlight on the damage Barrick Gold has caused in other countries. There are some positive results.

The Ottawa Sun article gives reasons for the Canadian government not to monitor mining activities outside of Canada: "None of this is necessary. HRW [Human Rights Watch] admits Barrick has moved from 'dismissive hostility' on reports of human rights abuses to one of collaboration. Crime in villages around the mine has dropped significantly, the company has increased monitoring of security personnel and it has improved a process for those who want to report crimes - especially sexual violence." 

The article continues in a way that shocked me. Barrick Gold ...

"... is also looking for alternatives to releasing millions of tonnes of liquid tailings into the Porgera River  [Papua New Guinea] - a practice that would bring sanctions in Canada."

Looking for "alternatives"!!! Something that should not have happened ... weak (corrupt .. desperate) local governments allowing --- obviously someone should be monitoring ....

HOW CAN WE INFLUENCE THE MINING INDUSTRY FOR THE BETTER?