Comment
Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
The Government of Canada abroad brings.”The Liberals also seem happy to rubber-stamp Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements (FIPAs), which are designed to protect Canadian mining investments. A March 2017 news release promoting Canada’s mining sector at an industry convention offers one example:The Canada-Mongolia Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (FIPA) is now in force. This agreement provides substantial protections for Canadian investors in Mongolia, where there are already significant Canadian-owned mining assets.These “investors’ rights” accords limit the ability of governments to regulate corporations operating on their soil. If the rules interfere with the profits of Canadian mining interests, they can sue the local administration and have their suits heard before private, investor-friendly international tribunals.The Trudeau government has channeled more than $100 million in assistance for international projects whose real purpose is to support mining. Those projects often come with sanitizing, euphemistic titles such as “West Africa Governance and Economic Sustainability in Extractive Areas,” “Enhanced Oversight of the Extractive Industries in Francophone Africa,” and “Enhancing Resource Management through Institutional Transformation in Mongolia.”It all adds up to a damning picture. While Trudeau and the Liberals may have put forward some nice rhetoric on the campaign trail to burnish their progressive image and deflect international criticism, their practice in government has been largely the same as Stephen Harper’s, putting the profits of mining companies above human rights and protection of the environment.
Add Comment