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Thank you to Michael DeForge for the poster design.
www.michael-deforge.com

Sunday, March 1, 2020 at 12 PM
Metro Toronto Convention Centre, 255 Front Street West, Toronto
Facebook event
Graphics and more info here

To quote Utah Phillips, “The Earth is not dying, it is being killed, and those who are killing it have names and addresses.” And precisely those people are about to gather in our city (and we know where they’ll be on March 1st).

What is PDAC?

From March 1-4 Toronto will play host to the world’s largest mining conference at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. With approximately 25,000 attendees, the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention will host many of the world’s most destructive and violent companies together in one place, making deals to sell off the rest of the planet and extract every last bit of oil, gold, uranium, and every other exploitable resource that they can find.

The attendees list doubles as a Rolodex of the world’s worst corporate criminals. Just one company alone–Teck, PDAC’s top sponsor– is trying to push through approval for a mega tarsands mine that would single-handedly blow through Canada’s emissions budget and make it impossible to meet our climate targets. PDAC attendees include some of the world’s wealthiest individuals and represent companies committing some of the worst climate and human rights crimes in the world.

Why should you care about the PDAC convention?

Because Canada’s mining companies, with the full and unconditional support of the Canadian government, wreak havoc on communities around the world, blatantly violating human and Indigenous rights, inflicting severe environmental destruction, and creating vast economic inequalities. They do this behind the guise of corporate social responsibility and sustainability, holding glitzy galas to celebrate each other’s greenwashing and charitable efforts.

Because their “business as usual” is a direct path to a planet that is literally unlivable. A world with even greater levels of wealth inequality. A world in which the mining companies that inflict mass forced displacement are also the lobbyists for harsher border and migration policies. A world defined by imperialism and neo-colonialism. A world where the rights of capital take precedence over human rights. This is not the world we deserve. And it is not the world we are trying to build.

JOIN US on March 1st to protest PDAC!

A coalition of community groups are calling on Torontonians to join us in protesting PDAC. On Sunday, March 1st at noon, we will show up in solidarity with those on the front lines to stand up for the future we all deserve.

Come on out, bring your friends, colleagues, neighbours, and loved ones. Come be with us as we gather in community to stand up to the extractive industry’s violence, ongoing colonization, and complete disregard for the future of life on this planet.
They are not in charge of our city, our futures, or this planet.

Context and Demands

Toronto: the hub of extractivism

It’s no accident that PDAC takes place in our city every year. Nearly 75% of mining companies around the world are Canadian, and Toronto in particular is known as the global hub for mining finance. This same industry is also one of the world’s most egregious offenders when it comes to human rights and environmental abuses, infamous for destruction through:

❎ Violent colonization to shove through their extractive projects,
❎ Land theft, forced displacement, and dispossession of land and livelihood,
❎ Creation of militarized warzones to defend their oil rigs and mines,
❎ Violent repression including assassination and sexual assault of those who resist,
❎ Disruption of culture and community cohesion,
❎ Wide-scale contamination of water, land, and air, threatening health and food security.

Enough is enough!

We demand an end to all of this extractive violence that renders our planet unlivable.

This requires:
✅ No more pipelines
✅ No fossil fuel extraction
✅ No more open pit mines
✅ No more land theft and forced displacement
✅ No more corporate impunity
✅ Status for all, including all those displaced by extractive industries and their destructive impacts
✅ Full recognition of Indigenous sovereignty and respect for local self-determination

PDAC and everything it stands for is fundamentally incompatible with the world we need to build for our future.

To endorse the action and to connect with our event organizers, please email [email protected]

A year ago today we lost a dear friend and fellow organizer who had a presence at and behind the scenes of so many actions for justice around Tkaronto. He also played a key role in founding MISN and supporting us over the past decade.

Sadly, Dave was no stranger to state repression and struggled with mental health. Last January, at the age of 40, Dave ended his life. It is important we remember and honour those who have been lost to suicide while also supporting and helping those who live. Dave is deeply missed by the many who were touched by his tireless work, his generosity, his passion, and his mentorship.

We honour you, Dave Vasey, and your legacy of good work in our community and beyond. You are so deeply missed.

Dave Vasey (November 14, 1978 – January 27, 2019) was an environmental justice, Indigenous solidarity, and anti-fascist organizer based in Toronto, Ontario. He was someone who felt deeply his responsibility to work towards a more just and sustainable world, and worked, almost entirely as a volunteer, for several causes and projects.

He was a starter of organizations, playing a founding role in RAN Toronto, EJ Toronto, the Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, Rising Tide Toronto, Toronto People’s Assembly On Climate Justice and the anti-fascist self defence club as well as playing a principal role in Occupy Toronto, the environmental justice day of action during the G20, Aamjiwnaang solidarity and the province-wide network resisting Line 9.

Dave emphasized spreading organizing tools amongst the grassroots networks in which he participated, often leading trainings on marshalling, non-violent direct action, and de-escalation. He was courageous in the work that he did, often taking on roles that would risk or lead to arrest.

Besides the organizing that Dave led, throughout his life he supported groups like OCAP Toronto, No One Is Illegal, the Toronto Seed Library, Grassy Narrows Support and No More Silence by postering, volunteering his time, and being boots-on-the-ground at many actions throughout Toronto.

Dave was also a builder, landscaper and gardener. He grew many beautiful gardens for friends and neighbours, including the garden at Saint Stephen-in-the-Fields. He gave generously of his time and skills and cared deeply for his community in addition to the causes that we were all working towards.

Today is an international day of action in support of the ongoing barricade against OceanaGold’s mining operations in Didipio, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines. 

The struggle is global. Together, voices around the world are crying out: OceanaGold out, NOW!

Minutes before Barrick Gold’s annual general meeting was about to start, a spontaneous flash mob emerged from the food court at the entrance of the Hockey Hall of Fame, where Barrick’s meeting was set to take place. The flash mob was coordinated by Protest Barrick, a campaign with the Mining Injustice Solidarity Network that has organized annual protests at Barrick’s Gold’s shareholders meetings for 12 years. The action brought attention to communities in the Dominican Republic, Papua New Guinea, and Tanzania.