Solidarity with the People's Struggle in Colombia
Breton Local's Black Ribbon Campaign

We would like to make everyone aware of an international issue that we feel is an extreme insult to the hundreds of Cape Breton miners killed and disabled since coal mining became a way of life on our island.

Over the last two centuries, many of our miner's have paid the high price of mining coal with their lives. Now, years after the last mines in Cape Breton have shut down, the value of coal used on our island still can be measured in the number of lives lost.

For many decades power was generated from locally mined coal, but as the last mine was closed, Nova Scotia Power turned to Colombia for a cheap source of fuel. The country may offer a low-priced supply of coal, but Colombian coal also includes a much higher price tag, the cost of human lives.

NSP is importing coal from a country where mining companies are accused of killing miners by the thousands. These multinational conglomerates are also alleged to be wreaking havoc and abuse upon the Colombian people and their land. Such abuses range from forcible displacement of entire communities, some of the world's most dangerous working conditions, and at its worse, the outright torture and murder of hundreds of union leaders and the massacre of thousands of Colombian residents in recent years.

Many of the towns built along with our coal industry, now lay devastated in the wake of its aftermath. It is inexcusable that we now buy coal from a country that does not enforce accepted job safety and environmental protection standards, while hundreds of Cape Breton miners are forced to move away to find a new means of supporting their families. It is even more frightful to realize that our coal mines could never compete with a society willing to kill and maim their workers and literally destroy the environment, just so they can supply cut-rate coal to the World market.

We are all aware that mining has always been a very dangerous industry, even the long history of coal mining in Cape Breton has been plagued with its dark moments. Our ancestors once toiled under conditions that our present society would never tolerate. The history of mining safety is written in miner's blood, and due to the sacrifice and suffering of our forefathers, coal mining is a much safer occupation than in the past. We belive that miners everywhere deserve to be protected by a safety level that only strict regulation and tough enforcement can provide.

The proud people of Cape Breton have a vey profound link to the coal mining way of life, and in honour of our long coal-mining heritage and the struggle for miner's rights, we urge everyone to add your name to the petition below demonstrating your support for the People's struggle in Colombia.

We cannot continue to ignore or benefit from the atrocities that are commonplace against both the miners and inhabitants of Colombia. We hope our efforts will pressure NSP to force its Colombian suppliers to improve human rights at their operations and in the communities that surround the coal mines. We must send a strong message that our coal-fired generating stations can no longer be fueled by the suffering and anguish of others.

SIGN PETITION | PAGE 1

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