Thank you. Mr. Chair and members of this committee, good morning.
KAIROS, Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives, unites 11 faith-based organizations and seven denominations. It works for social justice here in Canada and overseas.
One of the key areas of our work is supporting partners in the global south to increase their capacity to defend and promote human rights. Basically, as coordinator of the Asia-Pacific program of the global partnerships, I was in countries in Asia, where I visited partners and consulted with communities. One of the things they wanted me to bring to your attention is their resounding support for Bill C-300.
I understand that some of our partners wrote letters to this committee expressing their support for the passing of the bill. I can mention JATAM, the mining advocacy network in Indonesia, who wrote a letter signed by 50 organizations representing human rights defenders, civil society groups that are faith based, and also environmentalists. Also, in the Philippines, the Cordillera Peoples Alliance wrote a letter expressing their support for the bill. This letter was signed by 198 organizations that are more or less impacted by mining activities in their region.
I also would like to mention the support of the Center for Environmental Concerns in the Philippines on the passing of the bill. And I would like to mention the presence of our partners from the south, from Marinduque in the Philippines, which was affected by Placer Dome, and also from Papua New Guinea.
What I would like to speak about is the concerns and the stories of partners who are impacted by the activities of Canadian mining companies in their region. Many of these communities suffered or experienced human rights abuses at the hands of the military, who are protecting the interests of these mining companies. Many of these communities were displaced and their livelihoods destroyed because of the mining operations.
In the Philippines, for example, the Cordilleras just recently experienced a devastating calamity under Typhoon Pepeng, but it was not really the typhoon that brought that calamity. It was the subsidence of the soil caused by mining. I have here a briefing note from the Cordillera Peoples Alliance mentioning the different Canadian mining companies operating in the region and more or less causing this destruction.
The partners that KAIROS supports in the global south are not anti-mining organizations. They are human rights organizations. They are sectoral organizations of people who just want to live a simple life and be able to stay in their communities and develop sustainable communities. But because of the mining that comes to their place and the irresponsible behaviour of the mining companies, they want their voices heard at this table. They want to register their concern.
If I may remind the committee, it was this very same committee that made the recommendation in 2005--after hearing the case of the Subanons from Mindanao and the case of TVI--to the government that a parliamentary investigation be conducted on the alleged human rights violations committed by the military in complicity with the mining companies and to look into those allegations. Round table consultations on corporate responsibility were conducted in 2006, and many partners from the south came to participate in those round tables, to express their concern, to register their stories, on behalf of what was created by this operation. Up to this point they are waiting for this committee, for this government, to provide leadership in ensuring that Canadian mining companies are behaving responsibly, that the lives of the communities are respected, and that their ability to say yes or no to the mines is respected as well.
My colleague will talk about the overall KAIROS recommendation. As the person who has just come from visiting the partners and talking with communities, this is what I would like to bring to this committee. These communities overseas are supporting the passing of Bill C-300.