Ontario Courts rule in favor of impunity for Barrick Mining company

Written By Grahame Russell

As the U.S. (supported openly or quietly by the “Western allies”) intervenes with complete impunity across the Middle East and Americas, the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld an Ontario Superior Court ruling that a lawsuit against the Canadian corporate giant Barrick Mining for mining-linked killings, maimings and torture at its North Mara mining operation in in Tanzania cannot be heard in Canada.

Below

  • Press release from plaintiffs’ lawyers Joe Fiorante and Cory Wanless

  • Communique from Mining Watch Canada

For 15 years, Rights Action worked closely with Cory Wanless (and his co-counsel Murray Klippenstein) on the landmark Hudbay Minerals lawsuits, that Hudbay was forced to finally settle in 2024. As part of that very difficult legal battle, the Ontario Superior Court ruled in 2013 that the Hudbay lawsuits can and should be heard in Canada. The lawsuits had been filed by 13 Maya Q’eqchi’ plaintiffs: the widow of a murdered community leader, a young campesino shot and left paralyzed, and 11 women gang-raped during the wholescale burning and destruction of their village.

Now, the Ontario Superior Court and Court of Appeal have seemingly taken a major step in the direction of again providing impunity for Canadian mining companies.

“This decision undermines access to justice in Canadian courts. Our courts should be open to victims who seek accountability against a Canadian company like Barrick that is in charge of security and human rights issues at its overseas mine.”
Joe Fiorante, partner at CFM Lawyers

“The reality is, if this lawsuit is not heard in Ontario, it will not be heard at all.”
Cory Wanless, Phillips Barristers

“This ruling sends the wrong signal to Canadian companies that they are shielded from being held to account in Canada for harm they may have caused overseas.”
Catherine Coumans, MiningWatch Canada.

Tanzanian Plaintiffs react to Ontario Court of Appeal Ruling that Lawsuit Against Barrick Mining Corporation for Human Rights Abuse in Tanzania Cannot Be Heard in Canada
Press release, April 7, 2026, by lawyers Joe Fiorante and Cory Wanless

Today, the Ontario Court of Appeal released its decision in Matiko John v Barrick Gold Corporation. The decision prevents the plaintiffs from bringing a lawsuit in Ontario against the Toronto-based Barrick Mining Corporation for human rights abuses allegedly committed on its behalf by security forces at the company’s mine in Tanzania. 

The lawsuit against Barrick sets out allegations of killings, shootings, beatings, and kidnappings at the North Mara mine carried out with impunity by the Tanzanian Police Force (TPF). The plaintiffs allege that the TPF operates as private security for the mine. The Court, siding with Barrick, ruled that any claim for these abuses would nonetheless have to be brought in Tanzania. 

Mine-related violence committed by the TPF against members of the local population has been ongoing for over a decade. A Tanzanian parliamentary inquiry, human rights groups, and local residents have estimated that the number of people shot and killed by security forces at the mine is somewhere between 77 and 100. Some estimates put the number of injuries as high as 304. 

Evidence presented in the Ontario case shows that senior Barrick executives are responsible for and have been directly involved in oversight of security at the mine. A 2022 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Barrick’s subsidiary and the TPF was reviewed and approved by Barrick executives. Under the current agreement, the TPF provides a heavily armed security force at North Mara with 142 officers, and liaison officers working in the mine’s security office, all paid for by Barrick’s subsidiary.

“This decision undermines access to justice in Canadian courts,” said Joe Fiorante, K.C., a partner at CFM Lawyers LLP and co-counsel for the plaintiffs. “Our courts should be open to victims who seek accountability against a Canadian company like Barrick that is in charge of security and human rights issues at its overseas mine.”

The plaintiffs are largely impoverished rural farmers and small-scale miners. They survive on a subsistence livelihood, and do not have the means to pay for counsel in Tanzania. Expert evidence presented to the Court showed that a lack of legal aid funding and a prohibition on contingency fee agreements impose insurmountable barriers to justice for those like the plaintiffs who cannot afford to pay for a lawyer out of pocket. 

Current conditions in Tanzania make the already tenuous possibility of legal action in the country even more unlikely and dangerous. In October and November of 2025, a wave of state violence swept Tanzania in the leadup to and aftermath of an election that international observers concluded did not meet democratic standards. 

A joint statement by the Foreign Ministers of Canada, Norway, and the UK expressed concern over “credible reports of a large number of fatalities and significant injuries as a result of the security response to protests”.

“Access to justice is not achieved by forcing these plaintiffs to seek help from an extremely underfunded legal aid system in Tanzania to litigate a complex human rights claim against a multinational corporation,” said Cory Wanless, a partner at Phillips Barristers PC and co-counsel for the plaintiffs. “The reality is, if this lawsuit is not heard in Ontario, it will not be heard at all.”

“I am deeply disappointed that I have been prohibited from seeking justice for my son’s death in a Canadian court even though Barrick is a Canadian company. I should be able to sue in Barrick’s home court where I can be represented by experienced human rights lawyers,” said Elizabeth Matiko Irondo, a plaintiff in the case. “I cannot pay for a lawyer in Tanzania, and I can’t believe I have been told to instead ask for representation from a legal aid system with almost no resources.”

The Plaintiffs will seek leave to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada.

The Ontario Court of Appeal judgment can be accessed here: https://coadecisions.ontariocourts.ca/coa/coa/en/item/24081/index.do

More information and key documents

Contacts

Ontario Court of Appeal rules on human rights case against Barrick Mining
Mining Watch Canada, April 7, 2026
https://mailchi.mp/reformbcmining/ontario-court-of-appeal-rules-on-human-rights-case-of-tanzanian-plaintiffs-against-barrick-mining?e=1186657b4b

Today, three justices of the Ontario Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal of 29 Indigenous Tanzanian plaintiffs who sought permission to have their case against Barrick Mining heard in Canada. The plaintiffs allege killings, maimings and torture that occurred between 2021 and 2023 at the hands of Tanzanian police contracted to provide security at Barrick’s North Mara Gold Mine. (Barrick Mining has operational control over the North Mara Gold Mine and is 84% owner of the mine through its subsidiary Twiga Minerals).

This ruling is not on the facts of the case brought against Barrick, but solely on whether the case may proceed in Canada. 

The court concurred with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruling that “Tanzania is a clearly more appropriate forum than Ontario in which to try them.” The plaintiffs will seek leave to appeal the case to the Supreme Court.

“The court’s ruling is an immensely disappointing sign that Canada’s legal system does not yet recognize that when people allege that they have been harmed by our Canadian multinationals operating overseas they must be able to access our courts in Canada, where the company is headquartered,” says Catherine Coumans, of MiningWatch Canada.

“This ruling sends the wrong signal to Canadian companies that they are shielded from being held to account in Canada for harm they may have caused overseas. The ruling is particularly disappointing as other countries around the world are implementing legislation to ensure access to their courts in cases filed against their multinationals.”

Types of violence at Barrick’s North Mara mine in Tanzania

MiningWatch Canada has conducted nine human rights field assessments at the North Mara mine since 2014. We have gathered information on and documented 88 cases of alleged excess use of force by private security and by police contracted to provide security at the North Mara Gold Mine.

The types of violence we have documented includes: rape, severe beatings leading to life-altering injuries and death, and injuries and deaths sustained through projectiles, such as teargas canisters, sound bombs (up to 160 dB that can cause permanent hearing loss), potentially deadly rubber bullets, bean bag rounds as well as live ammunition.

For more background on this case and for reports based on our fieldwork, see barrickontrial.ca.

Contact

Grahame Russell
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