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TORONTO – Hudbay Minerals Inc. has reached settlement agreements covering three civil lawsuits in connection with the Fenix nickel project in Guatemala that the company sold in 2011.

The company says the settlements conclude all outstanding legal matters related to its former activities in Guatemala.

The lawsuits related to the 2009 killing of Adolfo Ich Chamán, the 2009 shooting and paralysis of German Chub Choc, and the 2007 eviction of the Mayan community of Lote Ocho from the disputed Fenix mine lands during which 11 women allege they were sexually assaulted.

The settlement involves compensation to all 13 plaintiffs.

The sides agreed not to disclose the specific terms of the settlement including the amount paid in compensation, but the company says the agreement confirms the settlement is without admission of liability and that the parties continue to have fundamentally differing views on the facts underlying the allegations.

Hudbay acquired the Fenix project in 2008 and divested itself of its holdings in Guatemala in 2011. Before 2008, the Fenix mine was owned by Canadian company Skye Resources Inc., which was bought by Hudbay.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs called the agreement “a fair and reasonable settlement.”

“Over the past decade I have sat through multiple court hearings in Canada, endured days of questioning under oath in an office tower in Toronto and told the story of my husband’s death many painful times,” said Angelica Choc, widow of Adolfo Ich.

“At times, it was hard to have hope. Part of me thought that we would never see any real justice. But somehow we made it through this together, and I feel so much relief that this is over and that it has come to a good ending with a fair settlement.”

Hudbay chief executive Peter Kukielski said the cases have been outstanding for more than a decade and the board and management are pleased to bring them to a conclusion.

“In doing so, we recognized the difficult economic and social circumstances of the plaintiffs and we are thankful for a constructive resolution with the plaintiffs and their counsel,” Kukielski said in a statement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 7, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:HBM)

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FREDERICTON – New Brunswick Progressive Conservative Leader Blaine Higgs is promising synagogues, mosques, churches and community organizations more money for security measures, including the installation of surveillance cameras.

With two weeks left in the provincial election campaign, Higgs, who is vying for a third term as premier, says if re-elected his party will take “harder and harder lines on crime.”

“In an ever-changing world, we are increasingly aware of the need to ensure that our public spaces, including places of worship and community gatherings, are secure and protected,” he told reporters in Fredericton.

He said that particularly for religious institutions, “there are growing concerns about safety. That’s why today we are taking action.”

A re-elected Tory government, he said, would amend the terms of the Community Investment Fund to allow non-profits to apply for funding for such things as security cameras and stronger locks on their doors. The fund provides $70,000 every year to each legislative assembly member to support community projects and priorities.

Also part of the Tories tough-on-crime agenda is to reject all new applications for supervised drug-injection sites, and to introduce legislation to force people with severe drug addition into treatment.

Meanwhile, the Liberal and Green parties were scheduled to make announcements about health care on Monday. Liberal Leader Susan Holt had an event in Saint John, N.B., followed by lunch at the city’s market. Green Party Leader David Coon was scheduled to hold a news conference about “local health-care decision-making” alongside deputy leader Megan Mitton in her Sackville, N.B., riding.

A Mainstreet Research poll released Friday gave the Liberals 36 per cent support, ahead of the Tories at 32 per cent, with 18 per cent of respondents undecided. The Green Party had 11 per cent and the People’s Alliance party was a distant fourth at one per cent.

Mainstreet’s poll was drawn from an automated telephone survey of 906 adults between Oct.1 and Oct. 3., and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points with a 95 per cent confidence level.

The election is Oct. 21.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 7, 2024.

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OTTAWA – A federal inquiry says the Liberal government has consented to the public disclosure of summaries of cabinet documents about foreign interference.

Four memorandums to cabinet, generally considered closely held confidences, were provided to the commission of inquiry as part of its terms of reference.

In a statement today, the inquiry says that following extensive discussions, the government has agreed to the public release of summaries of those memos, which will be entered into evidence during the commission’s current hearings.

The memorandums in question had been previously provided to David Johnston, who looked into foreign interference last year as the government’s special rapporteur.

The inquiry says today the government has also twice expanded the commission’s access to cabinet secrets.

Commissioner Marie-Josée Hogue says the inquiry has been granted an extraordinary degree of access to both classified material and information subject to cabinet confidence.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 7, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.