At home and abroad, Canadian companies are major players in mining, various forms of resource extraction, and energy production and related development projects. They generate wealth for our societies but they also give rise to serious and complex environmental, socio-economic, and human rights issues.
In Canada and elsewhere, resource extraction and development projects often cross the traditional territories of Indigenous peoples without their Free, Prior and Informed Consent, a principle foundational to the UN Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to which Canada is a signatory nation.
Many of our global church partners, and members of our own churches, have called on us to address these issues as Canadian churches. We bear a moral responsibility to address these issues and concerns in partnership with others.
Remember the Land
Remember the Land is an 11-minute video about mining produced by KAIROS: Ecumenical Justice Initiatives. It features rich theological reflection and offers a number of action opportunities for individuals and churches.
Canada is home to 75% of the world’s mining and exploration companies. Canadian stock exchanges raise 40% of all mineral exploration capital worldwide. In May 2011, 150 people –church leaders and grass roots activists– from around the world gathered in Toronto to consider the impact of Canadian mining in their communities. Remember the Land is the story of that gathering — the story of peoples from the Global South who are engaged in struggles in protect the land that they know and love; the land that sustains them materially, culturally and spiritually; the land that has its own deep, inherent worth.
This 11 minute video features rich theological reflection and offers a number of action opportunities for individuals and churches.
- Check out KAIROS’ accompanying Study Guide
- Buy the DVD and Study Guide
- Community Mapping Activity: better understand the impacts of resource extraction on communities such as those highlighted in the KAIROS video.
Additional resources