Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  The security tax has been implemented, and I believe it's 2.5% with respect to Canadian mining. The security tax is being implemented in a number of different sectors, including for withdrawal of cash from bank machines, mining sector included. I think it will be a much more serious issue to look at, too, once the mining laws and regulations are in place.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  That's the whole point of free trade agreements, mining laws, and charter cities. As I said earlier, if you read Foreign Affairs and International Trade's assessment of these laws, the language that's used is to lock in market access. The language they use is transparency and predictability, which on the surface sounds like it's something neutral politically and economically, but when you consider the asymmetrical relationship between countries of the global north and global south, the poverty of people in mining-affected communities, and in general in countries like Honduras, predictability and locking in market access are not neutral things.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  It depends on which of Honduras' neighbours you're speaking of. I wouldn't overstate how great things are in Guatemala or El Salvador. I mentioned the human rights problems in Guatemala related to Canadian mining. There are ongoing issues of impunity, where just this morning it was reported in The New York Times that a general convicted of genocide has had that case overturned.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Okay.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Right.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Antonio Trejo was a lawyer for the MARCA, which was one of the peasant cooperative movements, so obviously he was advocating for them, and that's why I think he was assassinated. What was the other name?

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I'm trying to remember which one Manuel Díaz—

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I'm very skeptical of that. I think the biggest pusher, the biggest agent, for an improved human rights situation in Honduras is the social movement itself, starting with the Frente Nacional de Resistencia Popular, the popular resistance front that formed in response to the coup, and the teachers' unions that have been out and protesting and playing a leading role since the coup.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I didn't catch both names. Antonio...?

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes. The Fair Labor Association has been criticized on a number of fronts, not even with specific respect to Honduras. It was also involved in a controversy over Foxconn related to Apple's factories in China. It's been criticized in general by the United Students Against Sweatshops for having weak code enforcement mechanisms, and so on.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Well, I think people might question how ecologically sensitive oil extraction is in the tar sands in Alberta, but I would also say that a lot of critics and people living in Honduras would suggest that the mining regime that's developed in these countries and that Canada has input into doesn't have environmental regulations as strong as it should have.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I'll speak first to mining, and if I go on too long then perhaps someone could let me know because there's a lot I could say about that. There is quite a bit of research out there on this, but I'll list a number of points that I think are worth mentioning about why mining—

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  What I'll do then is highlight what I think are the key points on why mining doesn't lead to development and what the criticism in the academic literature suggests. I'll quickly list a few points, and if you want me to follow up on any of them, I'd be happy to do so. The first is that mining often leads to displacement of communities that live on or near the mineral resource deposits, communities that might be small farmers or indigenous communities living at a subsistence level and relying on the local ecology, water sources, and so on.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Right, and this can have an impact on the future of the people. Even when the mine is closed, 10 to 20 years down the line, that land may not be arable anymore, and the water sources may not be usable. Mining these days is extremely capital intensive, which means that the possibility for employment, particularly relative to the revenues that are being generated, is quite low.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Do I need this on when I speak?