Fredericton Peace Coalition

Please find below an action alert from SINTRACARBON – the union of mine workers at the Cerrejon coal mine – where New Brunswick sources its coal. The union is negotiating a new contract with the mine and the lives of two of union reps have been threatened. A few years ago, when the union was [...]

An alleged unit of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) blew up heavy equipment at the Cerrejon coal mine in La Guajira, Colombia on Sept. 4, 2012. NB Power sources its coal from Colombia. No one was injured. This is the fifth such attack on the world’s largest open-pit coal operation this year. Most [...]

“We fear the Wayúu will become completely extinct,” warned Angélica Ortiz at a special hearing of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Washington, D.C. this past March. The Constitutional Court of Colombia agrees with Ortiz’s assessment. In 2009, the court named 34 indigenous nations in Colombia – including the Wayúu – to be in [...]

“And Canada? Our government supported the agreement too. Canadian mining, oil and gas companies are Colombia’s third biggest source of foreign investment, operating almost exclusively in remote zones of the country where armed protection is a precondition to profit. The question is, protection from whom? Both Plan Colombia and the new Defense Cooperation Agreement identify [...]

Power plants in Canada – including NB Power’s Belledune plant – and elsewhere get the coal for their power plants from one Colombian mine, the Cerrejón mine. This video report shows how coal consumption is contributing to negative consequences for the people living in the area. The Danish NGO – DanWatch – has put pressure [...]

“Despite Trost’s claims that the human rights situation is improving, there is ample evidence to suggest otherwise. There’s a simple means to settle the debate: Canada should insist on a full independent human rights impact assessment prior to ratifying the CCFTA. In fact, the committee made this recommendation in 2008. As such, it must commit [...]

April 19, 2010 OTTAWA – NDP International Trade Critic Peter Julian (Burnaby-New Westminster) denounced the dirty tricks Conservatives used to force the first vote on Bill C-2, the controversial implementing legislation of the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement. “Bill C-2 was not on the government agenda last Friday. The Conservatives keep forgetting they are a minority [...]

Liberal’s amendment will not “fix” Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement, say Canadian election monitors, who warn of continued violence

Common Frontiers Immediate release – March 31, 2010 Scott Brison, Liberal M.P. for Kings-Hants Nova Scotia, recently held a series of secret meetings in out of the way locations on three continents with politicians from Colombia. Together they have concocted a dangerous amendment to the Canada-Colombia free trade agreement (CCFTA) that would allow the Canadian [...]

COUNCIL OF CANADIANS MEDIA RELEASE, MARCH 25, 2010 A Liberal proposal that would fast-track the passage of a free trade agreement with Colombia would put Canada at odds with international allies and betrays a parliamentary commitment to perform an independent human rights impact assessment first, says the Council of Canadians. “The Belgian government today rejected [...]