Reposted from Environmental Communication Options News Releases
(
www.huffstrategy.com/MediaManager/ReadRelease.php?ReleaseID=235)
14/6/06 3:03PM
(Ottawa, June 14, 2006) On the eve of a federal government-led initiative to debate regulating the activities of Canadian mining companies abroad*, Friends of the Earth has formally petitioned the Auditor General to investigate a junior mining company's activities in Ecuador's endangered Cloud Forest.
"The Canadian government provides massive financial and diplomatic support to its mining companies, and Ascendant Copper’s activities (ACX) offer a clear example of how these companies are being allowed to "fly the Canadian flag" abroad with blatant disregard for Canadian values of peace, democracy and corporate accountability," says Beatrice Olivastri, CEO Friends of the Earth Canada. "The voluntary codes of conduct used to regulate mining companies are clearly not working and FOE urges the Harper government to use the opportunity provided by the roundtable process to put into practice the accountability pledge it so often refers to."
The petition submits testimony in the form of a documentary film on community unrest incited by Ascendant Copper tactics to undermine the communities' expressed wish to protect the Intag Cloud Forest from mining exploitation, which can be viewed at
www.ascendantalert.ca. It calls on federal Ministers to detail Canada's provision of financial, diplomatic and policy support for the activities of Canadian incorporated mining entities that operate abroad and requests additional reports on the enforcement of corresponding laws and accountability on various codes of practice.
"In a situation where even the Ecuadorian Minister of Energy and Mines is writing to Ascendant stating that it is concerned with the escalation of conflict in the Intag and abdicating the government's responsibility for the social problems caused by the company's activities, where are the affected communities to turn?" asks Andree Germain, International Campaigner for Friends of the Earth. "When you listen to the Minister of Foreign Affairs talk about Canada's respect for democracy, human rights, the rule of law, indigenous issues, civil society participation and corporate social responsibility, you have to wonder if he's even aware of the role his government is playing in facilitating the advancement of mining in the Intag Cloud Forest."
"The development of the proposed Junin mine, an expensive White Elephant, is completely at odds with what we hear about Canadian values," says Carlos Zorrilla, President of Decoin. "We are shocked and dismayed by Ascendant Copper's underhanded tactics that ride roughshod over democratic processes, generating deep social conflicts in our area. Is this the kind of company that represents Canada today?"
For more information, please contact:
Beatrice Olivastri, CEO, Friends of the Earth Canada, cell 613-724-8690
Carlos Zorrilla, President Defensa y Conservacion Ecologica de Intag (DECOIN) ++593 6 2648509 or intagcz@imbanet.net
Andree Germain, International Campaigner, Friends of the Earth Canada 613-241-0085 ext.30
Photos are available at
www.huffstrategy.com/MediaManager*The first of the Canadian government's national roundtables on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and the extractives sector takes place in Vancouver on June 14-15. It brings Canadian and international experts together to participate in discussions on international human rights and environmental standards and benchmarks while operating abroad.
June 11, 2006 Update*
WHY IS THE MINISTRY OF ENERGY AND MINES SO UPSET AT ASCENDANT?
AND, WHY IS THE MAYOR OF COTACACHI SO PISSED WITH THE COMPANY?
(and other tales Ascendant woes)
“The Ministry of Energy and Mines, concerned with the escalation of conflicts in the areas of Golden 1 and Golden 2, takeS no responsibility for the social problems caused by the activities carried out by your company in the Intag Zone”
So starts the June 6th letter addressed to Gary Davis, President of Ascendant, by the Minister of Energy and Mines (in function).
The Minister holds Ascendant Copper solely responsible for the events that took place during the June 3rd meeting, which was organized and paid for Ascendant, as well as other earlier incidences. On June 3rd, the meeting came undone when Mr. Ronald Andrade, the only person present who wished to challenge what the company’s representatives were telling the crowd, was physically prevented by the company from speaking. The anti-mining faction, led by all legally represented Parish government presidents and most of Intag’s organizations and communities, boycotted the meeting.
The letter from the Ministry goes on to say that when, and only when, the company lives up to all the social and environmental commitments acquired by the company, will the Ministry go ahead and process future paperwork related to the mining project. OUCH!
How many NO’s and in how many ways must ascendant listen to before it gets the message?
I think as long as suckers keep being born every minute who are willing to finance such a shoddy operation.
Mayor of Cotacachi Rebuffs Davis and his Crew.
If that wasn’t enough, this past June 9th, Auki Tituaña, Mayor of Cotacachi County, sent Mr. Davis and Daimi Services a damming four-page letter** accusing Daimi Services and Ascendant Copper of, among other things, lying and of having dealings with “drug-traffickers”.
This outburst came as a result of a meeting Daimi Services organized with the supposed cooperation of the Mayor’s office, but that in fact, many things had not been OK’d by the Mayor, and was done, in large part, behind his back. When Mr. Davis and his fellows showed up for the meeting on the 9th, the Mayor would have none of it, and was outraged at the abuse by Daimi Services of giving the impression the Mayor wanted to meet with Ascendant and Daimi, and setting the venue and taking other liberties without consulting with the Municipality.
In light of the outright rejection by the Municipal governments and organizations, Mr. Davis and Juan Carlos Bermeo* (Ascendant’s Ecuador representative) had to take their party elsewhere, and meet with no more than 20 of their own people.
**We’ll have the full text of Mayor Tituaña’s letter to Daimi Services and Ascendant Copper Corporation up and translated in the next few days.
In the letter, the Mayor referred to the project as completely undoable, because it violates basic Constitutional rights. In a newspaper interview published June 10th La Hora newspaper (Imbabura Section), the Mayor said that in conversations with the new Canadian Ambassador, the Ambassador labeled the Junin mining project a “White Elephant”. A very expensive White Elephant; one which is getting more expensive by the day. In the interview, and responding to Mr. Davis’ argument that mining would bring prosperity to Intag, the Mayor said, “if they are so concerned about bringing prosperity, they should worry about Canada, which also suffers from poverty”.
The EIA
And what happened to the Environmental Impact Study (EIS) that, since January of this year, Ascendant has been saying it was finished and being socialized with the communities? NOTHING.
Last we heard, the Terms of References had not even approved by the Ministry of Energy and Mines. Legally, once the Terms are approved, the company is authorized to THEN, AND ONLY THEN, start their EIS. The operational word here is legally; which is all dependent on the willingness of Ministry of Energy and Mines officials…………
*Juan Carlos Bermeo, Ascendant’s general manager in Ecuador, had an interesting history as head of the Department of Hydrocarbons a few years back. The Department is part of the Ministry of Energy and Mines. In 2002, the Ecuadorian Congressional Civic Anti-Corruption Commission, in an in-depth investigation related to a transfer of petroleum concessions in Ecuador’s Amazon region, found signs of responsibility in Bermeo’s involvement with the irregular petro deal (Arco Oriente y Burlington Resources Ecuador Ltd. Had failed to live up to their contractual obligations) The main recommendation of the Anti-Corruption Commission was to ask the government to revoke the oil drilling rights in this oil concession. One is left to wonder if Mr. Bermeo included this in his Curriculum Vitae.
