Mining Justice Alliance counter-gala for BC Mining Week
Every year in May, BC Mining Week is "celebrated" in Vancouver with a smattering of galas, charity pie throws, networking events and fancy luncheons. The pinnacle of this celebration the Mining Association of British Columbia (MABC)'s BC Mining Person of the Year Award Opening Reception which recognizes "an outstanding individual who has shown leadership in advancing and promoting the mining industry from, or within, British Columbia during the past year."
All of this is to celebrate an industry that is destroying communities, devastating ecosystems and funnelling profits into tax havens.
This year, Mining Justice Alliance is holding a counter-gala to instead celebrate outstanding individuals, communities and groups who have stood up for rights, justice and self determination -- facing up to a powerful state-sponsored industry. Throughout April and May, we are sharing profiles of people, communities and groups who are on the frontlines resisting BC mining companies.
We will gather outside the "BC Mining Person of the Year Award Opening Reception" to celebrate these resisters with a community gala that will be way more fun than a corporate black-tie event. Come on out and let's steal the spotlight together!
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Date: May 14, 2018
Time: 5:30 pm
Location: Outside Terminal City Club, 837 W Hastings St, Vancouver, BC V6C 1B6
Hors d'oeuvres and gala attire welcome but not essential.
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More information/get involved:
- Nominate a BC Mining Resister of the Year
- Participate in the Gala of Resistance by contributing your skills, music, art or time
- Come to our organizing meetings (Monday evenings from 7 pm - 9 pm throughout April at 825 Salsbury Drive. Meeting location is wheelchair accessible)
- Follow us on Facebookand Twitter
About the BC Mining Person of the Year Award
Every May, the Mining Association of BC unleashes a series of events including business luncheons, trade shows, "community fairs", and cocktail receptions under the banner of "BC Mining Month." The BC Mining Person of the Year Award is the premier publicity event. Illustrious past winners of the award include Pierre Lebel of Imperial Metals (whose Mount Polley Mine spilled an estimated 25 million cubic metres of mining waste into Quesnel Lake) and John McManus of Taseko Mines (which has repeatedly pushed to build their New Prosperity Mine, despite firm opposition from the Tsilhqot'in Nation). No, we are not making this up.
About us
Mining Justice Alliance is an all-volunteer, grassroots collective on unceded Coast Salish Territories that organizes with communities on Turtle Island and across the globe affected by Canadian mining corporations. We organize actions that aim to raise awareness around endemic injustices within Canada’s state-supported mining industry. Our organizing work prioritizes the perspectives and social justice concerns expressed by directly-affected communities - most of the actions and events we organize respond to direct requests made by communities facing Canadian mining projects and their allies.
We organize from our base on unceded traditional territories of the Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish), Stó:lō (Stolo), səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) peoples.
Want to get involved? Here’s more about what we do:
- Organize actions: Every spring, a number of Vancouver-based companies hold their annual general meetings (AGMs). We are often asked to be present outside these venues with messages from directly-impacted communities.
- Accompaniment: We support visiting land defenders who travel to the Lower Mainland to raise awareness, build alliances and confront the many mining companies located here.
- Public education:We plan events, and maintain a Facebook page, Website and listserv to amplify the concerns expressed by mining-affected communities. The events we are planning include countering the "BC Mining Week - Mining Person of the Year" award with our own "Mining Resister of the Year" award.
- You can see some of our past actions and events on our Facebook page.
We are looking for more members to help make these activities happen, and to build our capacity to support folks and communities on the frontlines! If you are interested, please get in touch.
