hundreds demonstate against Canadian goldmine

[waldo]

Furthermore, "the U.S." has been blamed for actions of American corporations abroad

U.S. Corporations are American people, my friend*

(* Willard Romney)

[Guest American Woman]

No surprise here....hysteric rants about Halliburton/KBR or Bechtel's activities are met with silence when matched by Canadian mining operations that "rape" the earth and local cultures around the world. It was embarrassing to see the extent of this complicity in Myanmar and the military dictatorship.

Canadian mining dominates Africa

Ivanhoe in Myanmar (Burma)

This is just another example of the American Woman Corollary:

"Canada is not acting like the United States, it is acting like Canada"

Nope, no surprise; just as it's no surprise that those who just can't seem to understand my point/what I'm asking are those who "blame the U.S." And yes, Canada has been known to raise a bit of ire around the world too, regarding their "rape of earth and culture," just as you said. Some can see it - and some will forever choose to remain silent/"play dumb."

[eyeball]

"Canada is not acting like the United States, it is acting like Canada"

So why doesn't the U.S. know better than to behave like Canada?

[waldo]

Nope, no surprise; just as it's no surprise that those who just can't seem to understand my point/what I'm asking are those who "blame the U.S." And yes, Canada has been known to raise a bit of ire around the world too, regarding their "rape of earth and culture," just as you said. Some can see it - and some will forever choose to remain silent/"play dumb."

in keeping with your supposed premise that shifted into a corporate theme, is your surprise attachment to Canada... or Canadian corporations? Of course, offering distinction doesn't suit your agenda/purpose, does it? By the way, since they were mentioned, just how arms-length is your government, your military in foreign Halliburton, KBR and Bechtel initiatives... you know, those with, as you say, blowback concerns?

[cybercoma]

Those who protest don't really see a difference between "the government" and "private corporations from said country"

So the protestors aren't protesting the mine now? They're protesting the Canadian government?

[eyeball]

So the protestors aren't protesting the mine now? They're protesting the Canadian government?

To be fair though, look at the blurred distinctions between the interests of tar sands corporations and Canada's national interest. More to the point look at the clear connections Canadian federal and provincial governments are making between protesters and enemies of the state.

I have no doubt that Canadian mining companies abroad are emboldened at the direction our government is taking domestically towards opposition to development and the horizontal integration of big government's and big business' interests generally.

Edited January 29, 2012 by eyeball

[cybercoma]

To be fair though, look at the blurred distinctions between the interests of tar sands corporations and Canada's national interest. More to the point look at the clear connections Canadian federal and provincial governments are making between protesters and enemies of the state.

I have no doubt that Canadian mining companies abroad are emboldened at the direction our government is taking domestically towards opposition to development.

Yeah, but that's only because our current government is pathetic.

[eyeball]

Yeah, but that's only because our current government is pathetic.

Not in the view of our corporations.

Our current government is the best thing that's happened since sliced bread.

[jacee]

Canadian governments are implicated in overseas mining protests in several ways:

Turning a blind eye to corruption - ie bribery of government officials overseas to allow mining where people don't want it. In fact (see refs in my earlier post here), the government underfunds the RCMP unit that is supposed to investigate such corruption, and OECD has identified Canadian mining companies as the worst offenders in bribery and corruption in overseas operations.

Because of this laxness, International mining companies prefer to register as Canadian. Three quarters of the international companies are registered in Canada. Companies are listed on the TSX in spite of human rights abuses abroad.

While I don't want to get into a verbal Canada v USA tiff with American Woman, Canadians have a LOT to be concerned about in the activities of so-called 'Canadian' mining companies abroad, including the lack of oversight by our governments.

Edited January 29, 2012 by jacee

[eyeball]

While I don't want to get into a verbal Canada v USA tiff with American Woman, Canadians have a LOT to be concerned about in the activities of so-called 'Canadian' mining companies abroad, including the lack of oversight by our governments.

We particularly need to be concerned about how Harper is turning Canada into a such a graphic poster boy for staying the course on untrammelled capitalism and globalization. He's obviously not having anything to do with any talk of capitalism being overhauled and would rather put the pedal to that metal and drive right over any people or ecosystems that get in the way.

[Guest American Woman]

While I don't want to get into a verbal Canada v USA tiff with American Woman, Canadians have a LOT to be concerned about in the activities of so-called 'Canadian' mining companies abroad, including the lack of oversight by our governments.

Oh give me a break and stop making it personal. This isn't a tit-for-tat "tiff," it's a legitimate question as to whether or not some have the same standards they apply to the U.S. for their own country - or if it's a different story when it involves Canada. It's also a question of whether or not protests and the possibility of blowback from extremists should influence our governments' decisions. That's both of our governments.

As you said, the Canadian government is implicated in the Canadian mining corporations abroad. There was even an action to "Stop the Canadian Government from Supporting the Rosia Montana Gold Mine." If any here truly believe the protesters don't see this as involving the Canadian government in any way, if they don't believe the government has played any part in it, they are either willfully blind, naive, or ignorant. Not to mention hypocritical.

Edited January 29, 2012 by American Woman

[William Ashley]

Hundreds of Romanians took to the streets Saturday in two simultaneous demonstrations in a Transylvanian village and in Bucharest, one in support and the other against a Canadian goldmine project.

On the one hand:

On Saturday, hundreds of people supporting the project gathered in the central square of the village yelling "Down with Unemployment" or "We Live on Gold, We Die of Hunger," the Mediafax news agency reported.

On the other hand:

"We are against this project first because the company's promises to create thousands of jobs are false, according to analysis of similar mines," Bogdan Hossu, chairman of Cartel Alfa, one of the main union confederations in the country, told AFP.

"Secondly, the project consists in having a huge tailings pond (mine dump). In case of an ecological disaster like the one in Baia Mare in 2000 or in Hungary in 2010, the Romanian state would be held responsible," he added.

So does "unemployment" trump the concerns? Does a Canadian company have the right to go into another country against protests?

Nope but a Romanian subsidary likely does.

Its their law...

fack an american company wants to tear up a giant strip mine to the north of where we live to extract billions of dollars of chromite, there are gold mines all around where I live, and I live next to an old uranium mine, fact is that this stuff happens in Canada too, but no they don't have the right.. they have the capacity.

its their government.

Do you think America or Canada doesn't have these same facilities on our doorsteps..they do. It is a global standard of negligence.

[bush_cheney2004]

So why doesn't the U.S. know better than to behave like Canada?

It does...starting back in 1775. But that isn't the point, despite your repeated attempts to deflect Canadian accountability for complicity in such matters. Still waiting for that Haitian car bomb in Ottawa.

The absurdity reaches a new level when the Americans "incredibly" decide to protest a Canadian oil pipeline.

[bush_cheney2004]

Of course, offering distinction doesn't suit your agenda/purpose, does it?....

What distinction? What is it exactly that you think (Crown corporation) Export Development Canada (EDC) does with all that Canadian taxpayer money? Sell more hockey pucks in Mongolia?

[bush_cheney2004]

Not in the view of our corporations.

Our current government is the best thing that's happened since sliced bread.

Don't be silly...it's not just the "current" government. Canada has been "acting like Canada" in this regard for a very long time. The government supported mining footprint can be found in many nations around the world.

[jacee]

We particularly need to be concerned about how Harper is turning Canada into a such a graphic poster boy for staying the course on untrammelled capitalism and globalization. He's obviously not having anything to do with any talk of capitalism being overhauled and would rather put the pedal to that metal and drive right over any people or ecosystems that get in the way.

I don't like his direction either, but the blind eye of government for corporate misdeeds is as old as Canada ... older even.

[bush_cheney2004]

I don't like his direction either, but the blind eye of government for corporate misdeeds is as old as Canada ... older even.

Agreed...any attempt to make this only a contemporary issue for the Harper government is laughable. Canada is acting like Canada (has always acted).

[eyeball]

I don't like his direction either, but the blind eye of government for corporate misdeeds is as old as Canada ... older even.

Absolutely it is, but it's even worse when we export such behaviour. If this were a what if I were PM thread I'd pass laws that hold our mining companies in other countries to the same standards we hold them to in Canada, after I'd ramped up our's of course.

[Guest American Woman]

Agreed...any attempt to make this only a contemporary issue for the Harper government is laughable. Canada is acting like Canada (has always acted).

Harper wasn't even the Prime Minister in 2005, which was when the act to Stop the Canadian Government from Supporting the Rosia Montana Gold Mine originated. That would be Paul Martin, a Liberal.

[bush_cheney2004]

Harper wasn't even the Prime Minister in 2005, which was when the act to Stop the Canadian Government from Supporting the Rosia Montana Gold Mine originated. That would be Paul Martin, a Liberal.

Not fair...don't confuse them with the facts. Some still don't believe the photos of Paul Martin in Gaddafy's tent.

[waldo]

As you said, the Canadian government is implicated in the Canadian mining corporations abroad. There was even an action to "Stop the Canadian Government from Supporting the Rosia Montana Gold Mine." If any here truly believe the protesters don't see this as involving the Canadian government in any way, if they don't believe the government has played any part in it, they are either willfully blind, naive, or ignorant. Not to mention hypocritical.

if there is government implication, current/active implication... in your Romanian goldmine example... then show/state it from the onset. Did you think I didn't anticipate your extension to extrapolate on a decades+ reference to a former ambassador turned mining director... or an almost decades old reference to the miningwatch group? If you presume to stretch your credibility against an unsubstantiated claim of current/active government engagement/involvement in the development of the goldmine... then show it. If you bounce repeatedly about, from government to corporate and back & forth between, just how does anyone reasonably determine what your fabricated issue truly is?

you seem to have traveled a long way to attempt to rationalize your government's foreign policy and it's blowback consequences - yes?

[bush_cheney2004]

...you seem to have traveled a long way to attempt to rationalize your government's foreign policy and it's blowback consequences - yes?

What do they call it in Canada? Multiculturalism.

[waldo]

Not fair...don't confuse them with the facts. Some still don't believe the photos of Paul Martin in Gaddafy's tent.

some still don't believe

[bush_cheney2004]

some still don't believe

...then Bush had a date with Paul Martin....PMPM begged pretty please for Canada to get some contracts in Iraq!

[Guest American Woman]

What do they call it in Canada? Multiculturalism.

According to the lawyer quoted in this article - Mining watchdog agency called 'bogus PR job' - it's called "business as usual."

In October 2009, the federal government appointed a corporate social responsibility counsellor to probe complaints about Canadian companies committing abuses in developing countries.

The Toronto-based office, however, has only received two complaints in the past two years — one of which was recently dropped because the mining corporation chose not to undergo the voluntary investigation.

"Voluntary investigation??" According to Toronto-based lawyer Murray Klippenstein who is involved in a case against a Canadian mining company:

"It's basically a whitewash .… It's a bogus PR job, as a cover for business as usual."

Furthermore:

Canada is home to about 75 per cent of the world's mining and exploration companies, but is also among the worst offenders abroad, according to a leaked 2009 report commissioned by industry group Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada.

"Among the worst offenders abroad," and the silence I expected is deafening.