Oh Say Can You See..

What does being Canadian mean to you? Why is it so important to stitch that Canadian flag on your backpack when you travel? Because the international community likes Canadians. We´re nice, friendly, and apologetic. We´re peacekeepers. That´s a myth that continues to be revealed to a majority of Canadians who may not realize our involvement in Afghanistan is of combat nature. We also like to boast that we are socially responsible in our international business. The mining industry worldwide is 70% Canadian. Countries prefer Canadian mines to other multinationals because we have a reputation as nice people. That reputation may still stand in the hearts and minds of Canadians but in San Miguel Ixtahuacan something unusual happened. I, as a dual Canadian and U.S. citizen, chose to identify as a Yankee. Voluntarily.

San Miguel Ixtahuacan is a small town located in the province of San Marcos, that has served for the past 5 years as the location of the Marlin Mine, a mine of the Canadian company GoldCorp with head offices in Vancouver. This town has very little to offer other than the bars that have increased in number by 1000% since the mine opened. So any white people passing through town are there for one reason: the mine. No, we were never in danger while we visited the outside of the mine and heard stories from the local youth working in resistance under the Catholic church. But we felt the tension. Families, the government, and the church have experienced conflict and division ever since GoldCorp arrived. The Marlin Mine employs 500-600 people from San Miguel and another 1300 from other parts of Guatemala and the world. They pay taxes to the community and regularly give gifts of fertilizer and infrastructure to the people. But they fail to recognize new phenomenons skin rashes and dying cattle as a result of the polluted water running from it´s leaching ponds and cracked houses as a result of dynomite blasts four times daily. The Marlin Mine uses 250 000 litres of water per hour for the process of extracting the gold from the ore, an amount of water that a Guatemalan family might use in 30 years. The locals are afraid to use the water now, and consume the crops from their land.

But there is hope. The 3 days before we arrived in San Miguel we spent in the communities of La Vega and Yalu, communities where MCC supports projects of trout and flower co-operatives. These communities are under the threat of GoldCorp as well, who has obtained licenses for exploration to start new mines. With these micro projects, MCC is hoping to instill a value for this land, where the people will use the natural resources towards sustainable projects instead of selling to the mining companies.

We were also fortunate enough to have Claire Lehan along for that portion of our trip. She works in Parliament, as a legislative assistant to MP John McKay who is currently working to pass Bill C-300 which would keep Canadian mining companies responsible for their actions in developing countries. Claire gave us some very concrete ideas for when we return including petitions, rallies, and contacting our MPs to encourage our government to regain our reputation as a people who cares about how we are treating others.

I never thought the day would come that my Pennsylvanian roots would win out over the 19 years I have spent living in Canada. But I can only hope that if I were to return to San Miguel, or any other Canadian mine location in Argentina, Papua New Guinea, Romania and many more, that one day I will be able to call myself Canadian and not be ashamed about it.