APG’s Open Letter: Canada-Ecuador Free Trade Negotiations and Initial Gender-Based Analysis Plus
On December 2, APG sent an open letter to Canada’s Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade, and Economic Development, Hon Mary Ng. This letter is in reference to APG, APG Members and Partners concerns on the Gender Impact Assessment by Canada during the Canada-Ecuador Free Trade negotiations.
December 2, 2024
Hon Mary Ng
Minister for Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development
Delivered via email to mary.ng@international.gc.ca and to consultations@international.gc.ca
Open Letter re Canada-Ecuador Free Trade Negotiations and Initial GBA+
Dear Minister Ng,
Amid highly disturbing reports of harms linked to Canadian mine projects in Ecuador, we are deeply concerned about the aggravating effect of Canada-Ecuador free trade negotiations and a gender impact assessment that has gaping holes.
It is stunning to us that Canada’s so-called ‘Initial Gender-Based Analysis Plus’ fails to examine gendered impacts of the trade negotiations on women and girls in Ecuador. It does not analyse or even mention concerning reports of increased violence against women and girls linked to resource extraction projects in Ecuador, nor reports of persecution, violence and threats against Ecuadorian women who speak up to defend human rights in communities impacted by mining or oil extraction projects.
One of the most recent cases impacting campesino, Montubio and Indigenous communities involves Vancouver-headquartered Atico Mining Corporation. Since March 2024, over 70 women and men who have spoken out against the company’s proposed Canadian mine in the Central Andean province of Cotopaxi have been slapped with unfounded criminal charges of terrorism and organized crime. This is part of a dangerous pattern of stigmatization and persecution of human rights, land and environment defenders documented by Amnesty International. In addition to unjust criminalization, women defenders are facing acts of gender-based harassment and intimidation, including a wave of attacks on social media attempting to slander their reputation.
It is hard not to see the omission of such significant gender-based impacts as intentional blindness given that Canadian government officials have been clear that a goal of negotiations is the promotion and protection of Canadian mining investment in Ecuador, including via proposed investor-state dispute settlement that UN experts say would be disastrous for the protection of human rights and the environment.
The Americas Policy Group network was among more than a dozen respected Canadian organizations that supported a visit to Ottawa in October by a delegation of Indigenous women leaders and water defenders from Ecuador. The visit was organized to ensure that Canadian decision makers heard the view from the ground in Ecuador, especially since Canada has claimed to seek a progressive, inclusive agreement based on respect for human rights and indicated particular interest in the views of under-represented groups in trade, including women and Indigenous Peoples.
The delegation from Ecuador, which met with your Parliamentary Secretary, Maninder Sidhu, reported that Indigenous Peoples and campesino communities in their country have been neither informed nor consulted about the free trade negotiations in violation of constitutional rights. A confidentiality agreement signed in August 2024 further undermined access to information, transparency and trust. This only exacerbates a worsening human rights crisis in Ecuador characterized by the adoption of hardline, militarized security policies and executive decrees, abuses by state security forces, widespread violations of the rights of Indigenous Peoples, and increasing persecution of those who defend their rights, particularly when they express opposition to the environmental impacts of resource extraction projects.
The delegation made it abundantly clear in their press conference on Parliament Hill and multiple media interviews that environmental damage, human rights violations and social harms which are already being experienced – including increased violence against women and girls and life-threatening social conflicts – will multiply if a free trade agreement increases mining in Ecuador. The delegation underscored that ecologically sensitive areas are at serious risk from resource extraction, including high altitude wetlands and the Amazon region, and for all these reasons, they expressed profound rejection of the Canada-Ecuador FTA negotiations.
Minister Ng, we join our voices in support of the rights-based calls of the Ecuadorian Indigenous women leaders and water defenders we hosted.
We urgently call on the Canadian government to immediately withdraw all diplomatic and other support for Canadian resource extraction projects that have violated human rights, collective rights, and the rights of nature, and which operate without the consent of affected Indigenous peoples, including Dundee Precious Metals' Loma Larga mega-mining project (Azuay, Cuenca canton, Victoria del Portete parish); Lundin Gold's Fruta del Norte project (Zamora Chinchipe, Yantzaza canton, Los Encuentros parish); Fierro Urco mining project (Loja and El Oro); Fortuna Mining's Fortuna Project (Azuay, Morona Santiago and Zamora Chinchipe); Solaris Resources' Warintza Project (Morona Santiago, Cordillera del Cóndor, southern Amazon); and Atico Mining's La Plata project (Cotopaxi, Sigchos canton, Palo Quemado).
Canada must fulfill its obligations to respect human rights standards, including the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, International Labour Organization conventions, and all international standards that protect the rights of rural communities, women and girls, and the right to a healthy environment. As Minister of Export Promotion, International Trade and Economic Development, we urge you to ensure coherence between the aforementioned human rights obligations and Canada’s trade policy with Ecuador.
Moreover, given the climate crisis and Canada’s promises to prioritize climate protection, we urge you to respect calls from affected Indigenous peoples and communities in Ecuador for a stop to Canadian mining in the Amazon, the Andean Sierra, high altitude wetlands, and other ecologically sensitive sources of water.
Canada must comply with the recommendations of the UN Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations by ensuring that:
No investor-State dispute settlement provisions are included in any agreement with Ecuador, and
Ex ante and ex post human rights impact assessments are conducted, in line with UN guidelines, paying particular attention to the impact on Indigenous peoples, racialized people, rural communities, workers, and women and girls.
It would be grossly irresponsible to sign any trade agreement without first ensuring mandatory human rights and environment due diligence, through a legal framework enshrined in legislation – and access to remedy when rights are breached by Canadian companies operating in Ecuador.
Minister, we emphasize that there should be no trade agreement with Ecuador unless all of the above imperative conditions are met in good faith and with due diligence. Indeed, we underscore our profound rejection of the Canada-Ecuador free trade negotiations that have been negotiated to date without transparency or consent, amidst the denial of human rights, collective rights, and the rights of nature.
Sincerely,
On behalf of the APG Steering Committee
Jessica Farias, Co-Chair
Silvia Vasquez Olguin, Co-chair