jessicafancy.com

Canada’s human rights watchdog is broken.

A Canadian oil company stands accused of human rights violations in Namibia. A 187-page complaint has sat unanswered in a Canadian regulator’s empty office for over two years. The MP for South Shore–St. Margarets is “monitoring the situation.”

Two things you can do right now → Read the complaint

MP Fancy says she is “monitoring the situation.”

There is no one in the office to monitor.

Day

762

since the 187-page complaint was filed with CORE.
No intake decision. CORE’s own rules require one within 30 working days.

Day

357

since the Ombudsperson’s office became vacant.
No replacement appointed. No one to receive the complaint.

From the record

They speak for themselves.

Four documents. Four parties. One pattern. Every word below is sourced to the public record.

“This is utter blindly stupidity and nonsense of the highest level I have never ever seen… what is wrong with you?”

Dr. Sindila Mwiya, environmental consultant retained by ReconAfrica, written to Muyemburuko Max Kangwaka — an Indigenous community leader who asked questions about the project’s impact on water and land. January 2021.

CORE complaint, Appendix E, Exhibit B (Mwiya–Kangwaka correspondence)

“We have concluded all formal stakeholder engagements for the year.”

ReconAfrica’s written reply when Muyemburuko Max Kangwaka — Chairperson of the regional Conservancy and Community Forest Association — requested a meeting. December 2021. The company had been drilling on community land for eleven months without consulting affected communities.

CORE complaint, para. 132; Appendix E, Exhibit C

“They did it illegally.”

Calle Schlettwein, Namibia’s Minister of Agriculture, Water and Land Reform, confirming that ReconAfrica drilled without the required water permits. The company drilled for six months before obtaining authorization. Officials who attempted to inspect the drill sites were denied entry.

CORE complaint, para. 91; The Journal of African Elephants, 15 December 2021

N$1,116 — CAD $79.80.

Compensation paid by ReconAfrica to a Nyemba farmer after the company built a permanent public road through land his family had farmed for generations — without his informed consent, for a document he could not read, in a language he did not understand. According to the CORE complaint, this “merely paid for about one month’s worth of rice for his family.” The farmer states he accepted it “out of fear that it would be the only form of compensation he would receive.”

CORE complaint, para. 143

All four items are sourced to the 187-page CORE complaint filed by the University of Toronto International Human Rights Program on behalf of Kavango communities, April 9, 2024. That complaint has received no intake decision. The office that was supposed to receive it has been vacant since May 2025.

A "Danger — No Entry" barrier at ReconAfrica's Kawe drill site in the Kavango region, Namibia. 2021.

My name is Rob Parker. I grew up in Nova Scotia, studied Political Science at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, and in 2007 moved to Namibia, where I worked in media and consumer-rights advocacy.

In 2020, a Canadian oil company called ReconAfrica began exploring for oil and gas in Namibia’s Kavango region — one of the most biodiverse freshwater ecosystems on the continent, home to communities that have farmed the same land for generations. The company operated without consulting the people whose land and water would be affected. I documented what followed: damaged homes, unlined waste pits beside community water sources, threats against anyone who asked questions, and the detention of community leaders who spoke up. I visited the drill sites, gathered evidence, worked with affected communities, journalists, and legal advocates, and helped prepare the 187-page human rights complaint filed with Canada’s CORE Ombudsperson. That complaint has sat unanswered for over two years. The Ombudsperson’s office is currently vacant.

Last summer I began asking my MP’s office to inquire about it. Jessica Fancy publicly brands herself as a fighter and a champion for her riding. I didn’t ask for a miracle. I asked her to inquire about a Canadian human rights complaint, stalled inside a Canadian regulator, against a Canadian company.

This website exists because the proper channels do not work as advertised. CORE was promised as an independent watchdog with real powers. It was lobbied into ineffectiveness before it opened, housed inside the Ministry of Trade, and stripped of the power to compel witnesses or documents. A Federal Court has now confirmed its findings cannot legally affect anyone. Communities follow every rule. The institution has none.

This is not only a Namibian story. While the Kavango complaint sat unanswered, the Liberal government passed Bill C‑5, which gives Cabinet the power to bypass environmental reviews, scientific assessments, and Indigenous consultation for projects deemed in the “national interest.” It also introduced Bill C‑9, which civil-liberty groups warn could criminalize peaceful protest. Bill C‑5 removes the checks. Bill C‑9 silences the people who notice. The Kavango shows us where this path leads: no rights, no remedy, and community leaders surveilled and detained for asking questions.

What we are asking for is simple:

  1. Appoint a new Ombudsperson without further delay.
  2. Make the office independent of the Ministry of Trade.
  3. Give it the power to compel testimony and documents — the powers that were promised in 2018 and never delivered.

If MP Fancy wants to act as a champion, we welcome it. The petition is here. The complaint is here. The record is here.

Rob Parker with Rinaani Musutua and Jonas Kalenga, Rundu, Namibia, 2021.

In good company

We are asking for the same thing.

Canadian civil-society organisations have been making this case for years. They have submitted to Parliament, published reports, and called publicly for an independent Ombudsperson with the power to compel testimony and documents. This site is one constituent’s contribution to a long-running argument.

Canadian organisations

  • Above Ground

    Research and advocacy on the human rights impacts of Canadian companies operating abroad. Has documented CORE’s limitations since the office was first proposed.

  • MiningWatch Canada

    More than two decades of work on the conduct of Canadian extractive companies overseas. A core member of the coalition that called for an Ombudsperson with real powers.

  • Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability (CNCA)

    Coalition of human rights, labour, environmental, and faith groups. Has made multiple submissions to Parliament calling for CORE reform and the appointment of a new Ombudsperson with subpoena powers.

  • University of Toronto International Human Rights Program (IHRP)

    Filed the 187-page CORE complaint on behalf of Kavango communities in April 2024.

Namibian partners

Rob Parker works directly with these organisations on the ground in Namibia:

  • Saving Okavango’s Unique Life (SOUL)

    Namibian initiative documenting the impact of ReconAfrica’s operations on Kavango communities and the Okavango watershed.

  • Economic and Social Justice Trust (ESJT)

    Namibian advocacy organisation. Signed the letter to the Canadian High Commissioner documenting detentions, surveillance, and human rights violations — the letter Global Affairs Canada forwarded to ReconAfrica without consent.

Listed for context. The Canadian organisations above are not affiliated with this site and have no responsibility for its content. Rob Parker is solely responsible for what is published here.

The Company

What is ReconAfrica?

Reconnaissance Energy Africa Ltd. (ReconAfrica) is a Calgary company exploring for oil and gas in Namibia's Kavango region. The company holds a 90% interest in a petroleum exploration license in Northern Namibia which covers the entire Kavango sedimentary basin.

ReconAfrica's permit area includes part of the Okavango Delta's critical watershed — one of the world's most important inland deltas and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, crucial to over a million people living in the area.

ReconAfrica's wanton disregard for the rights of Namibians has led to a series of public complaints. Community complaints in the Kavango region mirror the grievances of communities affected by Canadian extractive companies all over the world.

ReconAfrica did not consult local communities before the work started. The Environmental Impact Assessment failed to include a list of interested and affected parties and is flawed, incomplete and biased. UNESCO's World Heritage Committee took the extraordinary step of identifying “gaps and concerns” with the EIA and advised “great caution” be exercised before allowing the Canadians to proceed. The company stayed silent while their hired EIA consultant, Sindile Mwiya, launched vicious verbal attacks on community members and activists calling them “stupid” and advising them to buy shares in oil companies.

ReconAfrica's Petroleum Exploration Licence 073, covering approximately 8.5 million hectares of the Kavango Basin in northeastern Namibia. The licence borders the Okavango Delta, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Source: Oil Field Africa.

The Record

Nine documented episodes. Canadian government correspondence, company filings, court records, and on-the-ground evidence from the Kavango Basin.

  1. 01 Communities were promised a watchdog The Liberal Party pulled its teeth →
  2. 02 The transparency law that missed a $1.2 million payment ReconAfrica paid the Prime Minister’s Office N$15 million. ESTMA never heard about it. →
  3. 03 Canada chose a side While communities documented abuses, Canada coordinated with the company. →
  4. 04 The Pattern This happened before. Same network. No remedy. →
  5. 05 The Verdict A Canadian court says CORE is not suited for purpose. →
  6. 06 Civil society capture Our man in Namibia. Canada has a friend at the top of Namibia’s environmental sector. →
  7. 07 700 days and waiting They followed every rule. →
  8. 08 The Punchline 120 billion barrels of fairy tales →
  9. 09 Door after door She read every email. She asked no questions →

In the press

Media coverage.

This story has been covered by journalists in Canada, Namibia, and internationally.

Take action

The proper channels failed.
Use these ones instead.

Two things you can do right now. Both take less than five minutes.

01

Sign the petition.

House of Commons e-petition e-7361 calls on the Government of Canada to appoint a new Ombudsperson and give CORE the power to compel testimony and documents.

Sign petition e-7361 →
02

Email your MP and the ministers.

One click opens a pre-written email to MP Jessica Fancy with four ministers and ambassadors copied. Add your name. Send.

Open email template →

After you write, please tell us what you got back →. Patterns only show up when many people share their replies.

Sign petition e-7361 → Email MP