Call on Canada to respect Indigenous Rights

UN: canada must fix Mount Polley harms

Serious concerns about long-term health impacts of the Mount Polley tailings pond failure on Indigenous peoples

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Call on Canada to ensure the rights of Indigenous peoples are respected in the context of resource development.

Prime Minister of Canada

Justin

Trudeau

Liberal Party of Canada

Dear Prime Minister:

I am deeply concerned that no one has been held accountable for the environmental and human rights harms from the 2014 Mount Polley tailings dam breach. The time limit for charges under the Fisheries Act expired on August 4, 2019. While your government has said there is no statute of limitations on laying criminal charges, it has failed to do so. Why has Canada not held those responsible to account yet?

Further, your government has allowed the company to discharge mine wastewater into Quesnel Lake without establishing alternative, robust water treatment methods. Residents deserve clean water and a healthy environment.

Two United Nations bodies - the Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the Working Group on Business and Human Rights - have called on you, Prime Minister, to provide remedy and redress to those harmed. Yet Canada has not yet done so. I find this deeply disappointing and a worrying signal that your government puts business interests before people’s human rights.

The world watches how governments respond to disasters. Indigenous peoples say that they continue to experience health impacts and threats to their food security as a result of the breach and ongoing mining operations. This worries me greatly. People affected by the disaster say that Canada has abandoned them.

The right to remedy for people whose rights have been abused is a cornerstone of justice. I find it appalling that those responsible have not yet been fined, charged or penalized.

I urge you to ensure accountability for the Mount Polley mine disaster.

Sincerely,

{user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}

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CANADA FAILS TO ENSURE RIGHT TO A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT

When a disaster happens, the world watches to see how governments react and tend to the needs of people who were harmed. Redressing harms, changing laws where needed, punishing those responsible, and trying to prevent future similar disasters are the measure of a government’s responsiveness. In the case of the Mount Polley mine disaster, Canada’s ongoing reluctance to hold those responsible to account, implement necessary regulatory changes, and see to peoples’ long-term health sends a terrible message that Canadian authorities aren’t willing to put people before mining profit.

On August 4, 2014, the Mount Polley gold and copper mine in central British Columbia failed, releasing over 25 million cubic metres of water, toxic materials and mine waste water into Quesnel Lake, a pristine fjord lake and home to wild salmon and other species. The tailings pond breach, in the heart of the Secwepemc Nation’s traditional territory, is considered one of Canada’s largest environmental mining disasters. The company has never been fined, charged or sanctioned. In fact, it has enjoyed tax breaks, new mine permits, and amendments to its water discharge permit which allows it to dump mine waste water into Quesnel Lake.

The tailings from the disaster sit at the bottom of the lake near the mouth of Hazeltine Creek. Scientists have revealed that, as a result of the disaster, lake water near the disaster site contains bacteria and metals not found in other parts of the lake. Many residents are still afraid to eat fish and drink water from the area.

Government Ignoring Indigenous Concerns

Two important United Nations bodies that monitor discrimination and the activities of companies have called upon Canada to hold those responsible for the disaster to account, provide remedy for the harms caused by the disaster – such as loss of health food and drinking water – and to release studies crucial to understand the impacts of the disaster on the health and well-being of Indigenous peoples and surrounding communities.

But Canada has failed to act.

While the Government of Canada says that criminal charges could be laid at any time, it has failed to lay charges or give any indication that it will. People deserve justice. Quesnel Lake deserves justice.

Will you join Amnesty International in calling on Canada to ensure justice for the Mount Polley mine disaster?

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UN: canada must fix Mount Polley harms

Call on Canada to ensure the rights of Indigenous peoples are respected in the context of resource development.

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CANADA FAILS TO ENSURE RIGHT TO A HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT

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