Mining companies not accountable
Letters to the Editor (The Guardian)
Allow me to respond to Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver's letter to the editor - "Clarification from Oliver" - August 29:
With all due respect, this is the same minister who said that it would be safe to drink from the Alberta oil sands' highly toxic tailing ponds in a few years. And I'm sure that Minister Oliver does not want to get into a debate about the ethical practices of Canadian mining companies in Latin America. The highly suspect record of those companies speaks for itself. More to the point, all this talk about "corporate social responsibility" is just talk and little more than PR spin and a sham. This, too, has been well documented.
What I was really getting at in my op-ed piece, though, was the Harper government campaign to torpedo the private member's bill (C-300) by Liberal MP John McKay on holding Canadian extractive companies to account. It wasn't perfect, but it did mark an improvement over the current voluntary code for Canadian firms. Bill C-300, had it passed, would have established a set of binding standards that companies would have had to meet if they hoped to receive any support from government agencies and institutions (like the Canada Pension Plan and Export Development Canada). It would have also created a complaints mechanism to investigate, without the consent of the companies themselves, corporate compliance with these same standards.
But because Minister Oliver's party opposed this initiative, it clearly exposed where his government stood on making Canadian mining companies more accountable for their actions abroad.
Peter McKenna,
Professor and Chair
Department of Political Science,
University of Prince Edward Island,
Charlottetown.
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"Clarification from Oliver"
Peter McKenna alleges that the Harper government “fought” against efforts to hold mining companies accountable for their actions (Re: Holding Canadian mining companies to account, August 20, 2013).
To the contrary, Canada joined the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in 2007. This initiative supports improved transparency in resource-rich developing countries through the full publication and verification of company payments and government receipts from oil, gas and mining operations in EITI implementing countries.
In March 2009, our government also announced a Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy for the Canadian International Extractive Sector.
Last June, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that our government would establish new mandatory reporting standards for companies in the Canadian extractive industry. This policy will result in transparency of payments made to domestic and foreign governments.
Canada’s mining sector, which employs more than 300,000 Canadians, already leads the world in responsible mining practices. As of the end of 2011, close to 850 Canadian mining companies operated abroad. This latest initiative will allow Canadians and people in countries where our companies operate to know the economic benefits that Canada’s mining companies contribute to their respective governments. It will enhance the reputation of the Canadian mining sector and promote a level playing field for Canadian companies abroad.
Our government expects that extractive industries will meet the high standards of transparency and accountability that have been introduced since 2006.
Joe Oliver,
Minister of Natural Resources,
Ottawa, ON.
