The postcards are presented with a splash
Fall Action 2006 resulted in 153,000 signed action cards and almost 40 meetings with Members of Parliament. On October 24, Development and Peace celebrated those postcards and acted on them. First 27 boxes of postcards were given to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Then we hosted a luncheon for MPs on Parliament Hill and were pleased with the turnout, which included several MPs who met with members over the last year. Finally our delegation met with Deepak Obhrai, Parliamentary Secretary to Maxime Bernier, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
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The D&P delegation consisted of Claire Doran, Director of the Education Department; Abu Brima, Executive Director of the Network Movement for Justice and Development in Sierra Leone; Paul McGuire, National Council member for Eastern Ontario; Mary Durran, Advocacy and Research Program Officer; and Siobhan Rowan, Programs Coordinator. |
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The day was an excellent opportunity for conversation and strategizing and will help inform our future advocacy efforts both nationally and regionally. |
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| Meeting with Deepak |
 From left: National Council member Paul McGuire, Research and Advocacy Programme Officer Mary Durran, Programs Coordinator Siobhan Rowan, MP Obhrai, Solidarity visitor Abu Brima of Sierra Leone, and Director of Education Claire Doran. |
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| Postcards |
 How many postcards did we deliver to Ottawa?
27 boxes of them, with the help of Ottawa members.
From left: Siobhan Rowan, Adrien Debow, Gaston Savage, Cathy Giulietti, Larry Martin, Yvette Lafreničre, Abu Brima. |
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| Mining for support in Ottawa |
 At a luncheon on Parliament Hill sponsored by D&P to bring awareness of our mining campaign.
From left: Alexa McDonough, MP for Halifax; Abu Brima of Sierra Leone; and Paul McGuire, National Council member for eastern Ontario. |
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Visitor Abu Brima of Sierra Leone
Solidarity visitor Abu Brima spent almost three weeks in Canada this October. He is the executive director of the Network Movement for Justice and Development in Sierra Leone, a long-time D&P partner. (NMJD’s story will be told as the Share Lent 2008 Partner in Profile.) |
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Abu was primarily in Alberta, meeting with many people including members, students and clergy. At the end of his visit he also traveled to Ottawa to participate in the lunch on Parliament Hill with Members of Parliament, presenting the mining campaign. |
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Read more in the October 22 issue of the Western Catholic Reporter out of Edmonton.
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Saskatchewan bishops sign on!
Congratulations to Saskatchewan members who have received support on the mining ombudsperson campaign from their local bishops. Saskatoon diocesan council co-chair
Gertrude Rompré reports through animator Michael Murphy that Bishop Albert LeGatt has signed the action card in an act that was recorded by the Prairie Messenger in their October 31 issue. |
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As well, thank you to Archbishop Bohan of Regina for writing to his pastors asking them to support our campaign. As a result we received 3 new orders from parishes in the Archdiocese.
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| Support in Saskatoon |
 Bishop Albert LeGatt of Saskatoon signs the D&P 2007
Fall Action card.
With him are Diocesan Co-Chairs Gertrude Rompré and Mike Pirot. Photo courtesy of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saskatoon. |
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Pension Fund
"Each week, money deducted from the paycheques of millions of Canadians is invested in Myanmar (Burma) and benefits the military junta who rules the country with an iron hand." Thus began an article published on October 12 in the daily newspaper La Presse. For many readers, this assertion came as a complete shock. Not so for Development and Peace members who, since this fall, have been combing the annual reports of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec in search of these "dangerous liaisons." The annual reports of these two financial institutions are available on the Fall Campaign Web page, in the Pension Fund section. |
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Question to the House of Commons
On Thursday, October 25, MP Caroline St-Hilaire (Bloc Québécois - Longueuil-Pierre-Boucher) called attention to Development and Peace's most recent campaign and asked the Government to take action on the Report of the Advisory Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility and Canadian mining companies in Developing Countries and to "call to order Canadian companies" who "respect neither human rights nor the environment." Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier (Conservative Party of Canada - Beauce) was hardly enthusiastic. "We will examine this report and follow up as appropriate," he replied. |
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Read the debate in the House of Commons, Thursday, October 25.
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Thirty-eight MPs
At last count, 38 MPs will have been met in the first year of our campaign. This week, the National Office received the minutes of a meeting between Jean-Claude D’Amours (Liberal Party - Madawaska-Restigouche) and D&P members from New Brunswick. In all, 29 Québec MPs, 7 from Ontario, 1 from British Columbia and 1 from New Brunswick have been made aware of D&P’s campaign in 2006-2007. It is worth mentioning that the first MP met during our second year is Ontarian John Maloney (Liberal Party of Canada - Welland) who promised to bring up the campaign with fellow MPs from his party and who even took the time to sign our postcard. |
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MP Jean-Claude D'Amours:
http://webinfo.parl.gc.ca/MembersOfParliament
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MP John Maloney:
http://webinfo.parl.gc.ca/MembersOfParliament
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Young Liberals adopt policy on mining
The Ontario youth wing of the Liberal party is urging the federal Liberal party to regulate the mining operations of Canadian companies working in the Global South. Congratulations to Development and Peace Youth and Young Adult rep Danielle Takacs on her creative and strategic work as a member of the young Liberals to see this policy adopted. |
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See Catholic Register article on Danielle and the mining policy (Danielle is pictured with party leader Stéphane Dion). |
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The Subanon are suffering
The fall campaign calling for an independent ombudsperson has been covered in the September-October issue of Scarboro Missions magazine. There is also a fuller article, "Community in crisis," on how mining is affecting the Subanon territory in the Philippines.
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Campaign summary in Global Village Voice
The fall issue of D&P’s newsletter, Global Village Voice, contains a nice summary of the campaign. You’ll also find here an article on Canadian support for mining reform in Honduras.
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Canada to take log out of our eye
At the end of their stay in Honduras in September, where Canadian and United Kingdom Members of Parliament urged reform of Honduras mining law, the tables were turned. The MPs made a point of inviting the countries of the North – and they mentioned Canada specifically – to adopt standards of corporate social responsibility for the mining, oil and gas companies which carry on their activities abroad. Read their declaration in the trip blog: http://mpsmininghonduras.blogspot.com
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Minister of Justice visited
In August two members of Development and Peace presented the mining campaign and demands to Ontario MP Rob Nicholson of Niagara Falls. They spoke specifically of the call for an independent ombudsperson. The meeting with the current Minister for the Justice and Attorney General of Canada lasted nearly 30 minutes.
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Update
Mining ombudsperson Campaign Update #1
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Update on 2006 mining campaign
Last year Development and Peace began its focus on mining with a letter campaign calling
on the federal government to regulate how Canadian companies mine overseas. |
• Over 152,000 letters were received
• At least 36 Members of Parliament were visited by Development and Peace members concerned about mining
• Development and Peace participated in a national consultation (roundtables) on Canadian companies in the mining, oil and gas industries working in Global south
• The report out of those roundtables is an exciting step forward for this issue. It calls for a whole framework on how these industries should operate
• The current education campaign theme comes from these roundtables and report. |
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