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BCBUSINESS.CA DECEMBER/JANUARY 2019 BCBUSINESS 41 In June 2014, seven Guatemalan plaintis, including Garcia, launched a civil suit against Tahoe Resources in B.C. Supreme Court, alleging negligence and battery at the hands of Escobal mine security. Then, in November 2015, Justice Laura Gerow ruled that a Canadian court didn't have jurisdiction, agreeing with Tahoe that the case should be heard in Guatemala. However, the plaintis appealed a year later, and in 2017 the B.C. Court of Appeal overturned Gerow's decision, supporting the argument that the Guatemalans probably wouldn't get a fair trial in their own country. Guatemala ranked 96th out of 113 countries in the 2017Œ18 Rule of Law Index published by the independent World Justice Project, compared to No. 9 for Canada. Tahoe asked the Supreme Court of Canada for leave to appeal, but the request was denied that June. Garcia vs. Tahoe had cleared its •nal legal hurdle, and this poten- tially game-changing case is set to proceed in a Vancouver courtroom. It's a shot across the bow of corporate Canada, warning companies that when it comes to overseas opera- tions, they can no longer pawn o responsibility for human rights violations to in-country subsidiaries. It also marks a legal milestone: the •rst time a Canadian court has agreed to allow foreign plaintis to seek justice in Canadian courts for incidents alleged to have occurred abroad. Joe Fiorante, a partner at Vancouver law •rm Camp Fiorante Matthews Mogerman, represents the seven plain- tis, three of whom settled out of court with Tahoe. "In terms of setting precedent, it is very important for there to be a public trial," Fiorante says. "Our goal is to make the parent company responsible at the highest level," he adds. "If a board of directors knows that it will be responsible for the conduct of its subsidiaries abroad, that will have a profound impact on corporate responsibility." As of this October, the case was still at the examination and discovery phase, and no trial date had been set. In the past, Canadian companies have mounted suc- cessful appeals in similar cases by arguing a common-law doctrine known as forum non conveniens, whereby courts may refuse to take jurisdiction over matters where a more appropriate forum is available. The result: lawsuits •led in Canada by foreign plaintis alleging wrongdoings by Cana- dian companies have been dismissed and sent back to lan- guish or die a quick death in the plaintis' home countries. But this line of defence is showing cracks. Legal landmines Canada is the undisputed powerhouse of the mining indus- try, home to an estimated 75 percent of its companies. But with the clout of being the global leader in mining and mining technoloŸy sometimes comes uncomfortable scru- tiny, especially when Canadian players build operations in countries where the rule of law is weak, democracy fragile, respect for human rights tenuous, corruption rampant and accountability non-existent. Tahoe isn't the only B.C. mining company facing a possibly ugly public trial. In 2014, three Eritrean men •led a suit in B.C. Supreme Court alleging that they were Garcia and fellow protesters faced o against private security per- sonnel working for Alfa Uno, the •rm that Minera San Rafael had contracted to guard Escobal, which went on to become the world's second-highest-producing silver mine in 2016, according to Vancouver-headquartered data provider Mining Intelligence. Lucra- tive as it potentially was, the mine was plagued by protests by the local Indigenous Xinca, small-scale farmers and community leaders, many of whom fear its impact on water and land. That day, under the orders of the head of security, a Peruvian named Alberto Rotondo, personnel guarding the mine allegedly •red on protesters with rubber bullets as they £ed the entrance. Seven were injured. Five years later, this skirmish is reverberating throughout the Canadian mining industry and has the attention of the country's legal system. Canada is the undisputed powerhouse of the mining industry, home to an estimated 75 percent of its companies. But with the clout of being the global leader in mining and mining technology sometimes comes uncomfortable scrutiny, especially when Canadian players build operations in countries where the rule of law is weak faced o against private security per- faced o against private security per- faced o against private security per sonnel working for Alfa Uno, the •rm that Minera San Rafael had contracted to guard Escobal, which went on to become the world's second-highest-producing silver mine in 2016, according to Vancouver-headquartered data provider Mining Intelligence. Lucra- tive as it potentially was, the mine was plagued by protests by the local Indigenous Xinca, small-scale farmers and community leaders, many of whom fear its impact on That day, under the orders of the head of security, a Peruvian named Alberto Rotondo, personnel guarding the mine allegedly •red on protesters with rubber bullets as they £ed the entrance. Seven were injured. Five years later, this skirmish is reverberating throughout the Canadian mining industry and has the

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