The State of Mining Today

Event Details

The Mt. Polley tailing dam tragedy in BC took place in August 2014, spilling 25 million cubic meters of toxic waste. On November 5, Brazilians commemorate the 3rd anniversary of an even bigger catastrophe at Mariana, Brazil, when a reservoir of toxic mine waste collapsed, killing 19 people, spilling 32 million cubic meters of waste, and creating a toxic tsunami down the 650 km Rio Doce to the Atlantic. The circumstances leading to the socio-environmental catastrophes and the responses to them by mining companies, governments, and civil society tell us a lot about the state of mining today. The issues range from corporate impunity, to dangerous practices in mine waste management, to regulatory capture of governments by the mining industry, and to mining on Indigenous and Afro-descendant lands.

Join in conversations with Judith Marshall, author of a comparative study on Mt. Polley and Mariana; Matt Corbeil, researching mining industry lobbying in Ontario; and Joan Kuyek, author of a new book entitled Putting Mining in its Place (forthcoming). Moderator will be Liisa North, co-editor of Community Rights and Corporate Responsibility.

When: November 12th, 12:30-1:30 lunch and networking; 1:30-4:30 presentations
Where: Friends House, 60 Lowther Avenue

This event is being hosted by MISN: Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, the Centre for Social Justice, Amnesty International Canada, and KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives

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