B.C. miner used slave labour: watchdog

Firm says it lost control of China mine's operations

Ottawa's corporate-ethics watchdog says a Vancouver-based mining company has allowed forced labour at its gold mine in the Xinjiang region of China, though the company lost operational control of the project before the alleged slavery took place.

The company, Dynasty Gold Corp., says it's being tarnished by baseless allegations and the timelines make no sense.

But ombudsperson Sheri Meyerhoffer said companies are responsible for holdings they jointly control.

The finding Tuesday is the first determination the Canadian ombudsperson for responsible enterprise has made since the office was created in 2018.

“Evidence gathered through this investigation suggests that Uyghur forced labour likely took place at the Hatu Qi-2 gold mine,” Meyerhoffer wrote in a report released Tuesday.

China denies allegations of slave labour in Xinjiang.

Meyerhoffer recommended that Canada bar Dynasty from access to trade services and financial support.

The company, which buys mines and contracts out work like exploration and extraction, says it has never received those services.

“They don't have any evidence of us using forced labour ... they extrapolate, but where is the hard evidence?” Dynasty CEO Ivy Chong asked. “We tried to explain, but I think their mind was closed; the decision was made.”

Meyerhoffer has been digging into allegations that Uyghur Muslims sent to what China calls “detention” or “re-education” centres are being forced to work. China insists the centres are meant to weed out Islamic radicalization.

The United Nations found in mid-2022 that China had committed “serious human rights violations” against Uyghurs and other Muslim minority communities that “may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity.”

Meyerhoffer found that Dynasty's mine near Kazakhstan sourced labour through Chinese state-run corporations, including one later sanctioned by Canada.

The report cites publications from such corporations and media about Uyghur workers brought to the mine between 2015 and 2020.

Dynasty lost control of the mine in question in 2008.

Chinese court filings cited in Tuesday's report show the public company had been unsuccessfully fighting the Chinese government to maintain control while repeatedly listing ownership of the mine in its corporate statements.

Meyerhoffer said the ownership means the company is still linked to hiring decisions at the mine.

“Companies do not need to have operational control in order to be involved in human-rights abuse,” Meyerhoffer said. “Dynasty may have lost operational control, that's true. But they remain a majority shareholder of Terraxin, the joint-venture entity (with Chinese state companies). And this relationship is sufficient to find that they are linked to the use of Uyghur forced labour at the mine.”

She said Dynasty had not been co-operative in the investigation, and even a company that has only a handful of staff still needs to uphold Canadian corporate standards.

“Dynasty's disregard for the complaint process and casual response to the complaint itself is disconcerting,” reads the report.