Ottawa Citizen reporter Elizabeth Payne, who also follows these issues, makes a similar point. Canada, she reminds us, “is not simply a neutral player whose sole interests are in helping Peru work better to benefit its poorest people, but a country that has tied its foreign policy to the success of Canadian mining and other companies abroad. That has resulted in billions of dollars of Canadian investment in Peru…..Canada’s interests in Peru are resource companies interests, but what happens when those interests conflict with the best interests of Peruvians?”
In fact there is already considerable social unrest in parts of Peru, much of it related to pollution from mining, Payne writes, “where Canadian mining companies have a large presence.” Indeed, says former Peru cabinet minister Jose de Echave, cited in The Tyee, “Many of Peru’s historic and current mining conflicts are related to Canadian companies.” Does our PM know – or care?
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