2013-2019 Complaints to Canadian Securities Regulators

In May 2013, the Justice and Corporate Accountability Project (JCAP) filed a complaint against Tahoe Resources Inc. at the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC), requesting that the OSC investigate whether Tahoe had complied with its obligations under the Ontario Securities Act to disclose all material changes “forthwith”, including information relating to opposition and social conflict surrounding the Escobal mine and the impact of these events on the mine’s operation and share valuation. JCAP filed this complaint on behalf of MiningWatch Canada, which supported the Committee in Defence of Life and Peace in San Rafael Las Flores, Guatemala in their conflict with Tahoe.

A similar complaint was filed with the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) in May 2017 and the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission in August 2016 (see “Complaint to U.S. Securities Regulators” for more detail). The BCSC Complaint was filed on behalf of  Santa Rosa Diocese Council for the Defence of Nature (CODIDENA), the Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence Network, MiningWatch Canada, and the Network in Solidarity with Guatemala (NISGUA).

In 2019, JCAP filed another complaint with the British Columbia Securities Commission regarding Tahoe Resources’ failure to disclose full and accurate information in relation to the Escobal mine prior to the shareholder vote by Pan American Silver to purchase Tahoe Resources. The JCAP has never received a response from British Columbia Securities Commission to its various complaints, which “speaks to the weak regulatory environment that mining companies rely upon when they choose to incorporate in Canada.” (Imai and Ross, 2020; 17)

However, media coverage of the complaints played an important role in questioning the manner in which Tahoe Resources provided accurate information to shareholders and investment authorities in relation to the prospects of the Escobal mine.

JCAP is “a volunteer-driven transnational, collaborative, community-based legal clinic” based in Canada that “offer[s] legal knowledge to communities that are negatively affected by natural resource extraction.” See “Complaint to U.S. Securities Regulators” for information regarding a similar complaint brought by JCAP in the U.S.