Canadian diamonds: "There are no clean diamonds".
After talking about what's happening to Africa's wealth I read in the Washington Post (5/3/2007) about a booming diamond industry in northern Canada, once the scene of a gold rush. The article claims it could be the answer to "blood diamonds" resulting from conflict zones. However on reading the article you might see that there are more than superficial similarities. You see land there is owned by Inuit - the earlier settlers on land which they saw taken out of their hands before. Now there is a surge in interest in education. The report goes on to say there are not too many Indians on the boards of the mining companies which form an industry larger than South Africa's
Canada's MiningWatch comments on the diamond industry and makes the point "there are no clean diamonds".
"There are no clean diamonds. Exploring for them, digging them out of the ground and selling them requires sacrifices from the natural environment, from the wildlife and fish that live on it, and from the Aboriginal people who depend on it.
We want to ensure that the public understand that Canada’s Aboriginal communities are engaged in a daily power struggle to ensure that the mines benefit their people, and to ensure that these mines do not irreversibly damage the intricate web of life on which we all depend.
We want to ensure that the DiCaprio film and its response strengthen the ability of Canadian Aboriginal communities and indigenous communities elsewhere in the world to protect their interests."
Posted by John Tyrrell at March 5, 2007 10:43 AM
Comments
I agree with Mr. Tyrrell's assessment of diamond mining and am glad that some people are speaking out against Canadian diamonds. I'm afraid that marketers have taken advantage of a stereotype of Canada (my native land) as "nice". Some supposedly environmentally friendly publications like E magazine have bought this sales pitch too. Canadian mining and logging companies are not nice. They are among the most rapacious in the world. They don't stop at diamonds either but are busy mining for uranium in South America. I don't think the foreign mining companies operating in Canada are that much better. The Canadian government is complicit in the widespread destruction in Canada for short-term profit. The profits go to very few - the costs are borne by many.
By the industry's own estimate, the diamond mining in Canada will only last twenty years. Twenty years. This is what the Inuit have sold there land for. What will they do when the mining companies disappear? Who will clean up the mess they left behind? Who will bring back the flora and fauna destroyed and restore the rivers? Can you do that in 20 years?
Why buy diamonds at all?
We may need a small amount for some machinery applications. We don't need diamonds on this scale. Every diamond you see on a ring represents waste and destruction.
Jennifer McLean
Blogged by JMcLean at March 5, 2007 1:04 PM
