On Monday, people from Papua New Guinea to Honduras gathered at Mont-Royal Park, in downtown Montreal to stake a claim and develop an open pit mine for a fictional company called Royal Or.
"We're not your daddy's mining company," said activist and actor Jason McLean.
"Like we're doing in Honduras, Mexico, Congo, all around the world, we're gonna do right here in Montreal. We're gonna take the gold right outta the mountain... an open-pit mine in Montreal!"
Along with the costumed members of Royal Or's surveying team were representatives from communities around the world impacted by Canadian mines.
Jethro Tullin is a representative of the Akali Tange Association, a human rights group based in the Portega province of Papua New Guinea, where the Toronto-based Barrick Gold Corporation operates.
He said in a press release that the Portega mine has "destroyed our land, our water, our safety and our ability to feed ourselves."
And he added that the government of Papua New Guinea is violently evicting indigenous land owners on behalf of Barrick Gold Corp.
Jean Moise D'joli, from the Congolese Lawyers in Canada group, said that the Anvil Mining company, which is based in Canada and Australia, has been complicit in the killing of civilians in the Democratic Repulic of Congo (DRC).
Hey Montreal, how about an open-pit mine in your backyard?
