Canadian mining companies: doing harm round the world

[Croghan27]

Meanwhile, here in Canada:

Sept ÃŽles doctors get severe reprimand
 
20 had threatened to resign en masse over radioactive contamination

http://www.montrealgazette.com/Sept+%c3 ... story.html

Great catch, BB - I see this is dated 9 December and now it is the 13th. I must have been lost in some time warp when you posted it.

Every time I see some argument like Quebec’s College of Physicians is using, as in blame your opposition for any sins you may be guilty of before they can say it of you, I get echoes of Karl Rove. A rule of thumb I use is that if I see him attacking someone I look to Rove to be guilty of that very thing itself.

I am not familiar with the mandate of Quebec’s College of Physicians, if it is charged with the health of the populous or just the welfare of its' members - but it seems to me the 23 doctors are doing 'the right thing', and the College is condemning them for it.

[Boom Boom]

Yesterday's protest: Sept-ÃŽles residents protest uranium exploration

Protesters back doctors who threaten to quit region

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story ... um-cp.html

excerpt: (what those opposed to mining are up against)

The government has maintained that mining the radioactive heavy metal posed no public health hazard and Jean-Pierre Thomassin, director general of Quebec's mining exploration association, agrees.

"This is strictly a fear campaign," he said. "The doctors probably have cottages near the site and don't want to be bothered."

He also believes a ban is unlikely due to potentially pricey compensations the province would have to pay to companies who have already invested in exploration.

"There would be consequences," he said. "If the government doesn't compensate the companies, it's over. No one will come to Quebec for exploration."

[Croghan27]

I took a couple of things out of the CBC story ....

It suggests modern mining practices significantly minimized the risks of exposure to radon gas among mine workers.

Other than a small quibble about they most definitely have not minimized the risks of exposure, they may have minimized the possibility of exposure, but the risks lie more with God than capitalists.

but

The uranium debate has been raging in the region for more than a year, since mining company Terra Ventures Inc. began exploration for low-grade uranium near Lac Kachiwiss, some 20 kilometres north of Sept-ÃŽles.

So, knowing there was (and there still is) strong abjections to exploration for unranium they went ahead an allowed (I bet encouraged) exploration, they are now saying the protesters are going to cost the government money???? What is wrong with this picture?

It is not the protesters that may cost some money - it is their own miscalculation and callous disregard for the health and wishes of the citizens that is costing money.

As for "No one will come to Quebec for exploration." --- if no one comes for uranium, great  :D  - if someone discovers a gold field or a body of copper/nickel/iron .... don't stand in the way, you will be trampled ....

[Boom Boom]

Anti-uranium doctors renew threat to resign

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2010/03/22/mtl-uranium-sept-iles-doctors.html


excerpt:

Nearly two-dozen doctors in Sept-ÃŽles, Que., are renewing their threats to resign and leave the province after the government rejected calls for a moratorium on uranium mining and exploration in the region.

[Holly Stick]

More on Blackfire.  Son of murdered activist to tour Canada:
 
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20100925/montejo-c-300-100925/
 
 
Miningwatch on Blackfire:
 
http://www.miningwatch.ca/en/categories/main-categories/company/blackfire
 
Someone should ask Ezra if he would support ethical mining.

[Antonia]

 

[Holly Stick]

I forget if there is a more recent thread about mining, but this news suggests it is something to watch - the Fraser Institute has started a new website about mining:

http://miningfacts.org/

The website contributors, and a claim that their stuff is "peer-reviewed" by "two internal expert reviewers" which sure doesn't look to me like the regular academic description of what "peer-reviewed" means:

http://miningfacts.org/Site_Contributors/


https://twitter.com/#!/FraserInstitute/status/187294705644609536

https://twitter.com/#!/MiningFacts

And Alana Wilson of the Fraser Institute has been tweeting about mining:

https://twitter.com/#!/AlanaKWilson

[pogge]

... a claim that their stuff is "peer-reviewed" by "two internal expert reviewers" which sure doesn't look to me like the regular academic description of what "peer-reviewed" means:

http://miningfacts.org/Site_Contributors/

The first thing thing to do would be to check that they're both still alive. The Fraser Institute has a history of including dead bodies in their list of editorial consultants.

But even if they're both still breathing, it wouldn't be peer review. People who work in the same organization as those who produce the original material aren't peers, they're colleagues. They all get their cheques from the same source so they can hardly claim to be providing an independent review of each other's work.

[Holly Stick]

Yes. On re-reading, I see they are supposed to arrange for peer review not just do it themselves, but it still relies on the integrity of the Fraser Institute and still seems to be internal.

But I see it as the Harper government, now not just ripping off all the oil, but everything else worth stealing, too!


ETA: Deep Climate talks about their "peer review" in another situation:


http://deepclimate.org/2012/03/03/open-thread-for-march-2012/#comment-12681

[sparqui]

This is depressing. I don't think enough people get how bad this government's direction on the environment, and emphasis on a resource extraction economy, is going to be in terms of detrimental impacts. I work with people conducting environmental assessments and they just seem to shrug and say the government is just reducing costs. Even people whose livelihood is dependent on Canada's track record on serious environmental impact assessment of projects don't seem to see the big picture or care. 

[Toedancer]

Indeed, so the cynic I am says something is afoot that is worse that they're not telling us. I'm no longer on top of the 'news' but I keep remembering the NASA warning to their employees only. Oh shutup!! But your right about the 'people', not only do they not know, they don't care. There is only so much people can take in.

[Holly Stick]

Miningwatch points out that they don't include NGOs on their long list of mining resources:


https://twitter.com/#!/MiningWatch/status/187791955407806464


Kent, I think, said they could get some of their environment information from the internet now, or something stupid like that; I wonder if this will be the federal government's source of information for mining now?

[Holly Stick]

On mining abuses:


http://thetyee.ca/News/2012/06/06/Mining-Justice/

[Boom Boom]

 Coming soon on CBC. Check your local listings.
 
Panama: The New Conquistadors
 

excerpt:
 

One of these properties is in the Colon province of Panama, where a number of indigenous peoples and peasant farmers, backed by a national consortium of environmental groups are trying to stop two Canadian mining companies from developing a gold mine and one of the last known major copper reserves in the world. They are concerned these mines would strip thousands of hectares of rain forest, deplete and contaminate water supplies, and displace the communities that have made the area their home for centuries, including the Ngobe people, Panama's largest indigenous group.


 
excerpt:
 

Canadians, in the meantime, are largely oblivious to this new role, still considering themselves peacemakers on the international stage, despite the fact that the Conservative government recently rejected a bill in Parliament that would have made Canadian mining companies more accountable for their activities abroad.

[greenvie]

Thanks for bringing this up, Boom Boom. It's going to make me cry though.

Oh boy, Stevie's going to love it though. I saw the trailer during The National last night (also at the Pulitzer Center site) and I nearly jumped out of my seat. Well, ya know,  it was such a contrast to TN.

The 2 CBC grantees who worked on it are Mellisa Fung and Lynne Burgess, both excellent international investigative reporters. There are a few informative background articles by Melissa there.

It will air next Tuesday, the 19th, after The National. A shortened version is on Monday, the 18th during The National.

   The Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting is an innovative award-winning non-profit journalism organization dedicated to supporting the independent international journalism that U.S. media organizations are increasingly less able to undertake. The Center focuses on under-reported topics, promoting high-quality international reporting and creating platforms that reach broad and diverse audiences.
   The Center's educational programs provide students with fresh information on global issues, help them think critically about the creation and dissemination of news, and inspire them to become active consumers and producers of information.
   The Pulitzer Center is a bold initiative, in keeping with its deep ties to the family whose name for more than a century has been a watchword for journalistic independence, integrity, and courage.
   When Joseph Pulitzer III became editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch a half century ago, he paid tribute to that legacy. "Not only will we report the day's news," he said, "but we will illuminate dark places and, with a deep sense of responsibility, interpret these troubled times." The Pulitzer Center is driven by that same mission and deep sense of responsibility, in times just as troubled.
   Jon Sawyer, the Pulitzer Center’s founding director, is a former Washington bureau chief for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He has reported from five dozen countries around the world and is a three-time winner of the National Press Club prize for best foreign correspondence.