Canada must stop profiting from human rights violations, environmental degradation, and the pandemic in Brazil

Photo Courtesy of Apib

August 17, 2021

The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau
Prime Minister of Canada
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A6

The Honourable Marc Garneau
Minister of Foreign Affairs
House of Commons
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A6

Re: Canada must stop profiting from human rights violations, environmental degradation, and the pandemic in Brazil

The Americas Policy Group, a national network of Canadian civil society organizations working for human rights and social and environmental justice, is deeply concerned by the unprecedented human rights crisis faced by Brazilians since President Bolsonaro came to power.

We urge the Canadian government, as well as all of its institutions and officials, to prioritize human rights over economic interests by refraining from contributing to social, environmental, and public health instability in Brazil.

Canada and Brazil maintain a privileged relationship mainly focused on economic development. Canadian interests in Brazil are linked to Canadian agencies, Export Development Canada (EDC), Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and the on-going negotiation of the Canada-Mercosur free-trade deal. In addition, we are concerned by the proposed “mission initiated by government invitation” of the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) to Brazil.

The Human Rights and Pandemic Context in Brazil
As widely reported, instead of taking urgent measures to control this public health crisis, the Government of Brazil adopted a negationist approach and openly contradicted all of WHO recommendations, which resulted in over 500,000 deaths and a hospital system collapse with dramatic impacts on the impoverished and Black populations, including children. This scenario led to the instauration, on April 27, of a Parliamentary commission of inquiry into the government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

In addition, the current administration has actively engaged in creating or amending policies that in turn negatively impact women, Indigenous and Black peoples, workers, and the environment.

Besides, according to the document Land Conflicts in Brazil, released by the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT) on May 31, 2021, “2020 was the year that registered the largest number of land conflicts, invasions of territories and murders in water conflicts ever recorded by the CPT since 1985. The number of occurrences increased from 1,903 in 2019 to 2,054 in 2020, involving nearly 1 million people (...) in a context of severe pandemic.”

The chaos generated by the overlapping crises in the health, social, environmental and political areas is reflected in the more than 100 impeachment requests filed against Bolsonaro in the Brazilian parliament. Similarly, at least five complaints accuse him at the International Criminal Court of crimes against humanity. These crimes stem from his lack of action to control the pandemic crisis and, as the Catholic Church Missionary Indigenist Council of Brazil (CIMI) puts it, his “planned extermination” of Indigenous peoples.

Mining in the Amazon Rainforest
Given the current, multidimensional crisis in Brazil, it is disconcerting that Canadian governmental agencies supported Brazilian officials during the 2021 Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention. Export Development Canada (EDC) and Global Affairs Canada (GAC) sponsored Brazilian events at this year’s PDAC.

In the midst of the chaos of the pandemic and of the highest levels of deforestation in the Amazon, the Pantanal and the Cerrado biomes, Brazilian officials, law firms and companies were showcasing Brazil as a land of opportunity for mining investors, particularly Canadian investors and companies.

This is troubling because, contrary to this pro-mining campaign in Canada by government officials, Indigenous people, social movements and their allies in Brazil have repeatedly expressed strong opposition to projects and investments in mining. Therefore, despite the Brazilian Congress’ attempts to change environmental legislation to allow extractive activities in Indigenous lands, these projects are all likely to face a denial of social license.

People from all continents are also raising their voices in defense of the territorial rights of Indigenous and traditional peoples, who have been recognized as by far the best guardians of forests by a recent United Nations’ report. Major European and Catholic investors have also been advocating divestment in Brazil to counter deforestation. We join these efforts and denounce the role of corporate interests threatening our planet.

Canada has made clear commitment to tackle climate change and provide feminist international assistance on a human based approach. With the upcoming Feminist foreign policy and announcements on enhanced carbon emissions reduction target, Canada needs to show it has a systemic understanding of issues at hand and adopt concerted actions to reach its goals. This implies reviewing international investments in extractive industries that do not abide by those principles of inclusive economy, greenhouse gas emissions reduction and gender equality. Canada should also advise Canadian companies to follow suit.

The CORE’s mission to Brazil by government’s invitation
Since March 2020, the CORE, Ms. Sheri Meyerhoffer, has announced plans to visit Brazil and Colombia. The Canadian Network for Corporate Accountability (CNCA), of which the APG is a member, has expressed its concerns about these visits, given Brazil and Colombia’s record as some of the deadliest countries in the world for environmental and human rights defenders. Ms. Meyerhoffer has not disclosed the objectives of the visit nor with whom she intends to meet, besides government officials.

We consider this lack of transparency another explicit sign of proximity of those governments with trade interests without consideration for the protection of mining-affected communities or reparation for damages caused by Canadian companies.

Canadian investments and projects must not profit from chaos.
As a Canadian network, we urge the Government of Canada:

1.      To prevent EDC and GAC from engendering any kind of Canadian support to Bolsonaro’s government.

2.      To prevent EDC and GAC from engendering any kind of Canadian support to Canadian companies against the will of Indigenous peoples and allies.

3.      To stop negotiations regarding the Canada-Mercosur free trade deal. According to the Brazilian Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock (CNA), “the conclusion of this free trade agreement has the potential to increase Brazilian export revenues of agricultural products by US$7.8 billion”. More than 50,000 people have signed a petition calling Canadians to stop consuming goods that come at the cost of Indigenous rights and rainforest destruction.

4.      To limit any of CORE’s diplomatic engagements with Brazil's government.

As Canadian civil society, we stand with those who defend the future of our planet.

Sincerely,

Robin Buyers (Co-Chair)           Laura Ramirez (Co-Chair)

CC: The Honourable Karina Gould, Minister of International Development, Government of Canada

The Honourable Mary Ng, Minister of Small Business, Export Promotion and International Trade, Government of Canada

The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, Government of Canada

Her Excellency Jennifer May, Ambassador of Canada to Brazil

M. Sheri Meyerhoffer, Office of the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE)