Last month, Canada blocked the Democratic Republic of Congo's pending World Bank and IMF debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) program, and had the G8 pass a resolution scolding the Congo. The debt forgiveness passed a couple of days later in spite of Canada's objections, but why did anyone think this was necessary?

The move came at the prodding of Vancouver-based First Quantum Minerals, Ltd., after losing some of the Canadian mining interests in the DRC have been threatened over the past year.

We talk to Maurice Carney of the Friends of the Congo.

This segment was originally produced for Black Mask. Photo from Alex Engwete's blog. A more in-depth story on the topic is expected to appear in the upcoming issue of The Dominion.