It’s been over 1 year since the Government of Canada announced that it would create an independent ombudsperson for responsible enterprise. Communities negatively affected by Canadian mining companies around the world, including Guatemala, are still waiting.

Photo of the Marlin Mine

Photo of the Marlin Mine

We are now concerned that the Canadian government is backtracking on it’s promise. We fear that the ombudsperson will neither be independent, not have the tools to effectively investigate cases. This would render the role as ineffective as the previous CSR councillor!

Join us in urging the Government of Canada to meaningfully and urgently implement its commitments by naming an independent ombudsperson with the mandate and tools to conduct independent investigations and to make Canada #open4justice for impacted communities and workers:

  • Call your Member of Parliament, urging them to contact the Prime Minister’s Office right away. Tell them that an ombuds without the power to compel documents and testimony is not the ombuds we need! Find a sample script here.
  • Tweet your Member of Parliament – daily – until we have an effective ombudsperson in place. Insist the government keep its promise to give the ombuds real #Power2Investigate, and tag key members of cabinet such as @JustinTrudeau ‏@jimcarr_wpg. Find the daily twitter campaign, including sample tweets here.
  • Share messages on social media using the hashtags: #Open4Justice, #Ombuds, #Power2Investigate, and #WhereistheOmbuds?
  • Don’t tweet? Make it a daily Facebook post, email, hand-written letter or call to your MP

Contact your Member of Parliament: 

Find your MP’s contact info here.

  • Ask them: Where is the ombudsperson?
  • Remind them that an effective ombudsperson is:
    • Independent
    • Has the tools and mandate to independently investigate, including the power to compel documents and compel witnesses AND
    • Reports publicly on its findings and recommendations, including for remedy, harm prevention, and reforms
  • Ask them: Will they take a stand by doing one or more of the following?:
    • Publicly support the immediate establishment of an effective ombudsperson with the power to investigate
    • Ask a question in the House of Commons
    • Raise this with the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister Carr and call on them to immediately name an ombudsperson and make sure the ombudsperson has the necessary powers