"Ground-Breaking Federal Court Hearing over Canadian Mining Diplomacy and Assassination of Mexican Community Leader", 26 March 2019

On [March 25], family members of Mariano Abarca – a Mexican community leader who was murdered for speaking out about the negative impacts of Blackfire Exploration's barite mine in Chicomuselo, Chiapas, almost ten years ago – attended a hearing in the Federal Court of Canada. The Abarca family seeks a full and impartial investigation into the acts and omissions of the Canadian Embassy in Mexico while it lobbied in favour of Blackfire in the lead-up to Abarca's assassination, which the family believes heightened the danger he faced...

...The complaint is based on extensive documentation obtained from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (now Global Affairs Canada) through Access to Information requests that reveal the essential role the Canadian Embassy played in facilitating the operations of Blackfire Exploration in Chiapas from start-up and even after the mine was suspended for environmental violations, days after Mariano Abarca's murder on November 27, 2009.

The family filed for judicial review in May 2018, after the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner (PSIC) refused to investigate their complaint...

...A decision is anticipated in coming weeks.