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.

For policy positions and other information concerning the operations of Canadian companies overseas, visit:
• www.halifaxinitiative.org
• http://international.gc.ca/cip-pic/current_discussions/csr-roundtables-en.asp

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