No More Rape in the Congo

From the Africa-Canada Accountability Coalition:

The Africa-Canada Accountability Coalition announces the launch of a new campaign NO MORE RAPE.

The eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the worst place in the world to be a woman or a girl. Over the last decade, a complex and ongoing series of conflicts, described as the world’s “deadliest crisis since World War II,” has unleashed unprecedented violence on the bodies of women and girls in this region. The brutality is extreme: three-month-old babies to eighty-year-old women have been raped. Women and girls are raped with such frequency that the Congolese invented a new word to describe the phenomenon: révioler, to re-rape.

This campaign is an urgent call out to Canadians: ABSOLUTELY NO MORE RAPE in the Congo. It features a new report on how Canada must respond, a video call for action, and a website with all the tools you need to stop the on-going crisis. Our corporations, our government and we ourselves have a specific, long-standing and often exploitative relationship with the DRC. We can do better – it is time we started.

JOIN US at our launch at 7pm on October 14, at the multi-purpose room of the Liu Institute of Global Issues at UBC (6476 NW Marine Drive Vancouver, V6T 1Z2), to learn more about how you can get involved and to see a moving film about a Congolese rape survivor "Lumo". We will also share an initiative to pass Bill C-300, aimed at promoting socially responsible policies among Canadian mining, oil and gas companies in the DR Congo and other developing countries.

Visit our website at www.acacdrcongo.org or reach us atcontact@acacdrcongo.org.

Business Ethics Mappng Workshop

From the Canadian Business Ethics Research Network:

CBERN Pacific Region Hub: Business Ethics Mapping Project & Workshop, Vancouver, BC

Friday, November 20, 2009

Mapping the Business Ethics research interested parties and their areas of interest in British Columbia and the Yukon in natural resources and other sectors.

Date: November 20, 2009
Location: The Atrium, BCIT Downtown Campus, 555 Seymour St., Vancouver, BC
Information: pacific@cbern.ca

OBJECTIVE: Mapping the Business Ethics research interested parties and their areas of interest in British Columbia and the Yukon in natural resources and other sectors.

This 4-month project aims to identify, characterize and link with the research groups who are actively engaged or interested in supporting research related to Business Ethics, (Corporate Social Responsibility) in B.C. and the Yukon. This will be useful not only to identify group/(individual) activity and interests in natural resources development ethics (mining, fisheries, forestry, agriculture, energy sectors) but also in other domains. These groups are at the scale of individuals, organizations or established networks/centers, Corporations or their representative Associations, as well as government, aboriginal, academic and NGO organizations.

Characterization of groups includes:

• contact details;
• terms of reference;
• areas of interest,
• scope and details of research activity;
• interest in collaboration;
• synergies.

One of the project deliverables will be a database representing the aggregated results of the survey. It will form the basis for future communications planning and partnerships for collaborative research. The information will be integrated with CBERN’s database.

The results of the survey will be discussed at a workshop at the Atrium, BCIT downtown campus, 555 Seymour Street, Vancouver, November 20, 2009. This workshop is conveniently scheduled after a one-day MSBC meeting on mining and sustainability at the same location and the CIM Annual Student Dinner (November 19, 2009).

Anyone interested in attending the CBERN workshop please send an email with “Workshop” in the subject line to pacific@cbern.ca.

Make your voice heard on Bill C-300

From Fiona at Amnesty. Here's more info on Bill C-300:

Support Bill C-300

Amnesty International is deeply concerned about human rights violations committed directly or indirectly by Canadian mining, oil and gas companies in developing countries.

To ensure that Canadian companies respect human rights in developing countries, we need mandatory human rights standards and stronger regulations to hold transnational companies accountable. The status quo won't do.

This fall, the Canadian Government is considering adopting a bill on corporate accountability (Bill C-300).

Amnesty International supports this bill. But to ensure that the bill passes into law, we need everyone who cares about human rights to express their support.
Take Action!

Between now and October 16th we urge you to phone, email, fax or write to the members of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, to express your support for the bill. Please contact as many of the following committee members as you are able:

Bob Rae (Liberal MP)
514 Parliament St
Toronto, ON
M4X 1P4
(Tel) 416-954-2222
(Fax) 416-954-9649
raeb@parl.gc.ca

Glen Douglas Pearson (Liberal MP)
768 Maitland St,
London,ON
N5Y 2W3
(Tel) 519-663-9777
(Fax) 519-663-2238
pearsg@parl.gc.ca

Bernard Patry (Liberal MP)
3883 Saint-Jean Blvd, Suite 303,
Dollards-des-Ormeaux, QC
H9G 3B9
(Tel) 514-624-5725
(Fax) 514-624-5728
patryb@parl.gc.ca

Paul Dewar (NDP MP)
1306 Wellington St, Suite 304
Ottawa, ON
K1Y 3B2
(Tel) 613-946-8682
(Fax) 613-946-8680
dewarp@parl.gc.ca

Lois Brown (Conservative MP)
206-16600 Bayview Ave,
Newmarket, ON
L3X 1Z9
(Tel) 905-953-7515
(Fax) 905-953-7527
brown.l@parl.gc.ca

Jim Abbott (Conservative MP)
125D Slater Rd,
Cranbrook, BC
V1C 4M4
(Tel) 250-417-2250
(Fax) 250-417-2253
abbotj@parl.gc.ca

James Lunney (Conservative MP)
6894 Island Hwy N, Suite 6,
Nanaimo, BC
V9V 1P6
(Tel) 250-390-7550
(Fax) 250-390-7551
lunnej@parl.gc.ca

Deepak Obhrai (Conservative MP)
Suite 225, 525-28th St SE,
Calgary,AB
T2A 6W9
(Tel) 403-207-3030
(Fax) 403-207-3035
obhrad@parl.gc.ca

Peter Goldring (Conservative MP)
9111-118 Ave NW,
Edmonton, AB
T5B 0T9
(Tel) 780-495-3261
(Fax) 780-495-5142
goldrp@parl.gc.ca

Kevin Sorenson (Conservative MP)
4945-50th Street,
Canmore, AB,
T4V 1P9
(Tel) 780-608-4600
(Fax) 780-608-4603
sorenk@parl.gc.ca

Francine Lalonde (Bloc Quebecois MP)
11975 Victoria St, Suite 101,
Montreal, QC,
H1B 2R2
(Tel) 514-645-0101
(Fax) 514-645-0032
lalonf@parl.gc.ca

Johanne Deschamps (Bloc Quebecois MP)
45 St. Antoine St,
Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts,QC
J8C 2C4
(Tel) 819-326-5098
(Fax) 819-326-8262
deschjoh@parl.gc.ca

Vancouver event - Canada as Global Citizen: Is Bill C-300 the Answer

Amnesty International - Business & Human Rights Presents:

Canada as Global Citizen:

Is Bill C-300 the Answer?

Tuesday September 8th, 2009 / 6pm

SFU Harbour Centre – 7000 Earl & Jennie Lohn Policy Room

In our rapidly globalizing world, Canadians are increasingly concerned with corporate, social and environmental responsibility, and demand that the activities of corporations operating abroad do not violate basic human rights.

Liberal M.P. John McKay will speak about Bill C-300, an Act designed to hold Canadian companies accountable for their activities in resource extractive industries (Mining, Oil or Gas) in Developing Countries. This evening event will allow expert panelists to discuss the issues in-depth and take questions that test the strength, breadth and effectiveness of the Act.

Learn about what YOU can do today to ensure that Canadian companies receiving support from the Government of Canada (Canadian Pension Plan / Export Development Canada) respect and promote international environmental best practices and human rights standards.

Presentations and Panel Experts representing:

• 
  John McKay - Liberal MP, author of Bill C-300
• 
  Fiona Koza - Amnesty International Canada
• 
  Jennifer Coulson – Northwest & Ethical Funds, Shareholder Action Program
• 
  Graham Allen – Lawyer, EDC Policy Analyst

Date: Tuesday September 8th, 2009

Time: 6pm to 8pm

Location: SFU Harbour Centre – 7000 Earl & Jennie Lohn Policy Room

Address: 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver BC

Cost: By donation

RSVP with any questions to karr.stephen@gmail.com

NDP resolution on extractive industries.

This is unofficial, but I have it from a good source (Liz Blackwood, the co-chair of this group) that the NDP has unanimously passed a resolution at their convention for regulating the overseas operations of Canadian extractive industries. If anybody's wondering, this is good.

Pictures from the protest of Goldcorp's support for the military coup in Honduras

I took these pictures today at a protest of Goldcorp's support of the military coup in Honduras, in front of their head office at 666 Burrard. For more info, check out Rights Action. For broader human rights documentation on Honduras, also see amnesty.org or hrw.org.

Protest the Honduran military coup at Goldcorp's Vancouver office

No to the Coup!

The Canadian government must demand the return of President Zelaya and refuse to recognize the military regime! Canadian mining companies out of Honduras! Reparations for the communities in the Siria Valley!

Protest Picket at Goldcorp's head office:
666 Burrard Street
Thursday July 23 - 12pm
Bring your banners!

Join us in our continued efforts to denounce the coup!

Since the June 28 removal of the president of Honduras, grassroots solidarity organizations throughout the world have protested the overthrow of Honduran democracy. Meanwhile, the Canadian government and mining companies are complicit in the military coup in Honduras because of their continued silence and at times direct participation in supporting the defacto regime lead by Roberto Micheletti.

Goldcorp, a Vancouver based mining giant, operated the controversial cyanide leaching, open pit "San Martin" gold mine in the department of Francisco Morazón in Honduras until 2008. Today, many residents of the Siria Valley, where the mine is located, are sick and unable to work because of illnesses linked to Goldcorp's operations. The company still has a skeleton crew of employees in the country, who according to community members were bussed to pro-coup rallies sponsored by the corporate backed "Movement for Peace and Democracy."

It's a lie that Goldcorp doesn't get involved in politics: in Guatemala, they launched a constitutional challenge against Indigenous People who organized to say NO to the company's Marlin mine, and in Argentina, Goldcorp has supported legal actions against tax increases.

The coup in Honduras suits the interests of Canadian mining companies. Michelletti's military regime promises more profits for the corporate sector, and lower wages and less rights for workers.

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