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DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE has joined with the Canadian Network
on Corporate Accountability (CNCA) to urge the federal government
to regulate the operating standards of Canadian mining, oil
and gas companies overseas. The call will be made in Vancouver
tomorrow and Thursday (June 14 and 15, 2006) at the first
of four roundtables across Canada where government, industry
and civil society will come together to discuss companies'
accountability abroad.
The Issue
Canadian extractive companies, including mining, oil and
gas, have been implicated in well-documented cases of human
rights violations and environmental disasters abroad. These
violations by Canadian companies include toxic dumping, the
destruction of protected areas, forcible displacement of indigenous
peoples, and threats and intimidation of local communities.
This is not a case of a few bad apples: Canadian extractive
companies have been implicated in human rights abuses and
environmental disasters in more than 30 countries.
The CNCA believes the voluntary approach to corporate accountability
championed by the Canadian Government is fundamentally flawed.
Canadian extractive companies that fail to uphold international
human rights and environmental standards abroad must be held
accountable in Canada.
The Background
The Canadian Government agreed, in November 2005, to hold
a series of multi-stakeholder roundtables on extractive industries
and corporate social responsibility (CSR). This agreement
came in response to a groundbreaking report by the Parliamentary
Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade
(SCFAIT) on mining in developing countries and CSR. The report,
tabled in June 2005, recommended that the Government adopt
policy and legal changes to hold Canadian companies accountable
for their activities abroad.
The Roundtables
The roundtables will identify ways for Canadian extractive
companies operating in developing countries to meet or exceed
international CSR standards and best practices.
The Government will call on expert witnesses from a variety
of sectors including industry, civil society, Aboriginal peoples,
academia as well as the general public to speak to five pre-determined
themes. These themes include:
• Corporate social responsibility standards and best
practices
• Positive and negative incentives
• Verification/assurance and dispute resolution
• Host country governance and capacity-building
• Support for industry implementation of standards
and best practices.
The roundtables will take place in Vancouver (June 14 and
15), Toronto (tentatively scheduled for September 12 and 13),
Calgary (tentatively scheduled for October 18 and 19), and
Montreal (tentatively scheduled for November 15 and 16).
The Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability (CNCA) is
a coalition of non-governmental organizations, churches, trade
unions and other civil society organizations concerned with
the detrimental human rights and environmental impacts of
Canadian extractive industries.
Members include Amnesty International Canada (English Branch),
CAW-Canada, Canadian Council for International Co-operation,
Rights & Democracy, Canadian Labour Congress, Canada-Tibet
Committee, DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE, Entraide Missionaire, Friends
of the Earth Canada, Halifax Initiative Coalition, KAIROS,
Mining Watch Canada, Steelworkers Humanity Fund, and United
Church of Canada.
 Additional
Information
For policy positions and other information concerning
the operations of Canadian companies overseas, visit:
• www.halifaxinitiative.org
• international.gc.ca
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DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE is the official international
development organization of the Catholic Church in Canada
and the Canadian member of Caritas Internationalis, a network
of 162 autonomous, Catholic, emergency relief, development
and social service organizations working in 200 countries
and territories. Last year, DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE provided
$18.4 million to support 309 long-term development projects
and 72 emergency relief projects in the Global South.
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