Canada PM urged to look into Canadian firms’ mining activities in PHL

Visiting Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper should look into the mining activities of Canadian firms in the country to make sure that these companies are not violating the rights of locals, two progressive party-list lawmakers said Sunday. ACT Teachers party-list Rep. Antonio Tinio particularly urged Harper to investigate activities of Canada-based Toronto Ventures Incorporated (TVI), which has been seeking to develop open-pit mining for gold extraction in Zamboanga del Sur since last year. “We hope that Prime Minister Harper will look into reports of serious human rights violations involving TVIRD operations in Zamboanga del Sur and take steps to ensure that Canadian mining firms doing business in the Philippines operate with due respect for human rights,” Tinio said in a statement Sunday. Harper arrived in Manila last Friday for a three-day state visit. On Saturday, he inked a defense procurement deal with President Benigno Aquino III, supposedly to “enable the Philippines to acquire the equipment and expertise it needs to fulfill the country's defense and security agenda.” Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares meanwhile said that Harper should give Aquino the assurance that Canada will “in holding accountable” Canadian mining firms that are found to have committed human rights violations on Philippine soil. “Coming from a country which prides itself with respecting human rights, and hosts a large number of Filipino immigrants, the Canadian delegation is asked to help in the battle against impunity in the country,” Colmenares said in a separate statement. TVI Resource Development, the Canadian mining firm’s Philippine affiliate, is currently the subject of a House probe for alleged violations of small-scale miners’ rights in Bayog town in Zamboanga del Sur. Tinio, who filed the House resolution which triggered the probe, said officials of the mining firm have already been summoned to the legislative inquiry. — BM, GMA News