Protesters Disrupt World’s Largest Mining Convention in Toronto

Workers, activists and members of communities impacted by Canadian mining around the world blocked the entrance to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre on the opening day of the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada (PDAC)​​​​​​​​​​​​​​'s annual conference. 

On the opening Sunday of the event, as mining industry players convened inside, hundreds of protesters, many of whom come from communities directly impacted by the environmental and social consequences of the industry, gathered on Adelaide Street. They held large banners that read “Canadian Mining Kills, Destroys, Colonizes” and “No Military on Stolen Native Land - Armies Out of Extractives.”  Representatives from Wet’suwet’en First Nation, Palestinian Youth Movement, and Sudan Solidarity Collective, among others, lead chants and speeches confronting the Canadian mining industry for its perpetration of violence, environmental destruction and colonization. 

The protest was organized by the Mining Injustice Solidarity Collective, a grassroots activist network that works in solidarity with communities impacted by Canadian mining. Protesters, some of whom had travelled thousands of miles, were there to condemn Canadian mining projects and the destruction they wreck across the globe. The crowd marched from the Toronto Stock Exchange to Front street, ultimately blocking the northside entrance of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre for about thirty minutes. Protesters condemned the Canadian mining companies that were gathered inside the building for profiting from situations of war and conflict to grab land and resources. 

“The annual award-winning PDAC Convention in Toronto, Canada brings together 27,000 attendees from over 135 countries for its educational programming, networking events, business opportunities and fun,” boasts the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada’s convention website. The world’s largest mining convention gathered tens of thousands of representatives from the global mining industry at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre from March 2nd to March 5th this year, as it has every year since 1932, hosting over 1000 exhibitors representing companies promoting mineral exploration across the globe. 

"The mining industry is quite entangled with the war industry," explained Mariam, an organizer from the Mining Injustice Solidarity Collective. "A huge amount of the minerals on [the Canadian critical minerals] list are designated as critical because of their defence applications, which means they’re used in weapons of war. Every F35 fighter jet that’s been dropping bombs on Gaza contains 900 pounds of rare earth elements."

The immense violence perpetrated by the Canadian mining industry also occurs at points of extraction. The industry causes "enormous amounts of environmental destruction," says Mariam. "Land defenders and folks from impacted communities that are trying to resist those mines often find themselves staring down the barrel of a gun, either with state security forces that are protecting the investments of mining companies or private security forces."

Canadian mining companies, which make up over 75% of mining businesses worldwide and operate around four thousand mineral projects abroad, are often scenes of environmental destruction, labour rights violations, corporate corruption, and human rights abuses. From the Philippines, to Guatemala, to Brazil, Canadian mining companies have been associated with the contamination of farmlands and drinking water, kidnappings, arbitrary arrests, and the undermining of Indigenous self-determination. 

The establishment of a Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) in April 2019 was meant to address and investigate these grave abuses of fundamental rights. However, the shaping of CORE was heavily influenced by the lobbying of mining industry associations, including PDAC. The result of this lobbying is that the ombudsperson cannot compel mining firms to hand over information involuntarily. Canada's establishment of CORE and other policies in response to mounting criticism have been repeatedly denounced for being inadequate in preventing labour and human rights abuses in foreign mining projects. 

While representatives from Sudan, Congo, Palestine, Norway, and many other countries were present, violations of human and ecological rights within Canada were front and centre at the protest. Many of the companies that provide support for the Coastal GasLink pipeline project in B.C. took part in the convention. Protesters chanted in solidarity with Wet'suwet'en chiefs who oppose natural gas pipelines that cut through their traditional territory in northern B.C. Participants condemned the industry’s undermining of Indigenous laws and governance and affirmed the right of Indigenous and working people to say no to mining projects. 

The Mining Injustice Solidarity Collective promotes several campaigns and calls to action in solidarity with communities harmed by Canadian mining and militarism, including defence funds for Wet'suwet'en and defence funds and gender-based violence prevention in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 

"That’s really why we’re here today," says Mariam, "to highlight that cycle of violence that the mining industry is involved in and to amplify the calls and show up for the communities that are on the front line of that battle." ​​​