Canadian diamond mines: good or bad?

[velvetpage]

I'm talking specifically about the Victor Project,, in Northern Ontario, right against James Bay.

I've never been that far north in any area. It's a day beyond where the last road ends; you get their by taking the Polar Bear Express train. Right now, a road across the ice connects coastal communities; these communities are actually more cut off in the summer, because then it's boats or planes - no ground transport at all.

These communities are almost entirely Cree in their population. They have some of Canada's highest rates of addiction, mental illness, and suicide. They were previously home to, and source of students for, residential schools, possibly the blackest mark on Canada's history and certainly the longest.

The DeBeers family is building an open mine for diamonds there.

I read about this just now in Saturday's paper, which had a large spread about the Mohawk College recruitment team that went there to talk to high school students about its nursing program, which reserves a certain number of spots for Native students with the intention of improving access to health care in remote communities. The team went up last year, too, and says there's a palpable difference there this year. The mines are almost ready to open, and the sense of hope in the community has increased tremendously. There are jobs and opportunities with De Beers, and more spin-off jobs in hotels, transportation, and the service sector as the general level of wealth in the community skyrockets from barely-subsistence to solid working class over the next few years. The native community overall approves of the project and sees it as the road to the future. (Note: I know the native communities are exempt from provinicial taxes. I hope the Federal government will exempt them from Federal taxes for the first few years while they get on their feet, and invest in a good banking infrastructure that doesn't exist up there, to help people manage that new income.)

And on the other hand. . . De Beers is a horrible company. They're responsible for some of the worst corporate abuses of power in Africa and elsewhere. They artificially drive up the price of diamonds, which should not be the most precious of gems because they're actually quite easy to come by. I find it disturbing that the diamond mines being opened in Canada are all located in the spots where the people are most ripe for exploitation of any kind. I'm sure that's partly simple geology, but is there more going on there? Have they chosen that area because they can control its economy so completely that no one will want to kick them out, even if they renege on many of their promises and destroy what they said they'd preserve? What kind of response would whistle-blowers get in the community, when all the wealth comes from this one company with a century's worth of African blood on its hands already?

EDIT: Another link, this one entirely negative, which unfortunately doesn't address economic concerns at all: http://www.greenkarat.com/about/issuesanswers/gem.asp?gclid=CMSGrvz035ECFQLwPAod9jZSeg

So, friends list, what do you think? Net good, net bad, or an even mixture of both?

Comments

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Canada has also instituted a set of very rigorous guidelines to ensure that diamonds sold here were not bought originally from rebel armies or warlords, etc. Apparently, there is some demand for "Canadian diamonds" from people around the world who want to be reasonably sure they have an "honest" diamond.

By mining them here, De Beers doesn't have to worry about the code.

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

One of the problems with the diamond industry is that gems are so untraceable, so it's generally impossible to tell where any given stone originated. But the efforts of the government in that respect are laudable.

[dornbeast.livejournal.com]

I remember reading something about cut diamonds being "fingerprintable" by shining a laser through one. If I remember this correctly, then it is possible to tell where a stone originated, just expensive.

The next problem, of course, is forged documents.