The Government of Canada is holding a series of national roundtables in order to discuss issues of corporate social responsibility in the mining, oil and gas sectors.  Led by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT), the consultation will look specifically at Canadian company operations in developing countries.

According to DFAIT, the objective of the consultation is to examine measures for Canadian resource companies operating in developing countries “to meet or exceed leading international corporate social responsibility standards and best practices.”

The Canadian Network for Corporate Accountability, a leading group of non-governmental organizations, has called on the consultation to go beyond the traditional approach of the Canadian government to emphasize voluntary initiatives on corporate social responsibility.

“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 thirty countries,” states the Network in a briefing note on the consultation.

“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 network includes the United Church of Canada, Amnesty International Canada, the Canadian Labour Congress, Friends of the Earth Canada, Rights and Democracy and KAIROS.

Socially responsible investors around the world support an international initiative entitled the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, which supports improved governance in developing companies through the full publication and verification of company payments and government revenues from oil, gas and mining. The objective is to eliminate bribes and other inducements to avoid costly compliance measures.

The Canadian government consultation holds the possibility of going a step further, however, by holding Canadian resource companies operating in developing countries accountable to the same CSR standards they face in Canada.

The first roundtable under the consultation was held in Vancouver June 14 and 15. Subsequent roundtables will be held in Toronto (September 12-13), Calgary (October 18-19) and Montreal (November 15-16).

For more information, visit http://international.gc.ca/cip-pic/current_discussions/csr-roundtables-en.asp

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