Boom, bust and human security in the extractive sector: The case of Colombia

The role of Canadian businesses in Colombia’s extractive sector yields many global lessons regarding the promotion of human rights in a manner that is beneficial for host communities and for corporations. Colombia hosts almost all the imaginable human rights problems that can exist in relation to the mining and petroleum industries, and Canadian companies in extractive industries dominate in many areas of the Global South. This is a particularly opportune time to consider the human rights dimension of Canada’s experience in Colombia’s extractive sector, since the boom years have now turned to bust and therefore provide a useful panorama from which to draw a range of analytical conclusions.