DRC article in The Guardian

I came across an article about the DRC today in The Guardian. Very interesting article by the way, written by a woman battling cancer, and her determination to heal herself mentally and physcially at least partly by advocating for people living in the DRC. Anyway, I came across a comment that i just had to respond to, stating that there is no corporate complicity in the atrocities committed there. I've pasted below my response.

I'm glad I stumbled across this thread. As a volunteer with Amnesty International's Business & Human Rights Campaign, I can assure you that there is a ton of evidence of corporate complicity in human rights in the atrocities in the DRC over the last several years. Here are just a few reports I found after searching for an hour.

http://www.cpt.org/work/africa_great_lakes/corporate_complicity
http://www.globalwitness.org/media_library_detail.php/937/en/dr_congo_ex_rebels_take_over_mineral_trade_extortion_racket
http://www.globalwitness.org/media_library_detail.php/928/en/metals_in_mobile_phones_financing_brutal_war_in_congo%20
http://www.international-alert.org/pdf/Natural_Resources_Jan_10.pdf
http://allafrica.com/download/resource/main/main/idatcs/00011978:17c4c25efdfdc56890bdb2c7b581aefb.pdf
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/11/25/briefing-un-security-council-situation-democratic-republic-congo

Western governments are complicit as well, because they have the ability to legislate mandatory standards that would hold to account companies from their country, but they by and large have been hesitant to do so.

Introducing CSR Tube

You've heard of You Tube. Well, here's CSR Tube. From their 'About' page:

CSRtube is the first global media platform dedicated to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) issues. CSRtube is an initiative of the Dutch MVO Platform (CSR Platform) and lokaalmondiaal. To inspire and discuss.

The aim of CSRtube is to increase the impact of the work of civil society organizations, research institutions, governments, and companies dealing with CSR issues. CSRtube intends to contribute to the debate around CSR, and to inform people about its developments. Citizens and civil society organizations from all over the world are invited to upload and share their video material on CSRtube. Get inspired by initiatives that promote CSR. Learn to make videos and be able to contribute with your CSR initiatives. Tell your story to a wider audience, share it, and contribute to changing the world. See it, film it, share it.

assorted links related to Bill C-300

Here are a few links I've gathered over the last couple of weeks.

Canadian Lawyer's Magazine supports Bill C-300

Toronto Star on the Canadian government's weak CSR plan, which critics refer to as 'insufficient.'

Vancouver Sun covers the debate on Bill C-300.

Embassy: Tanzanian foreign minister wants Bill C-300 adopted.

Peace, Earth, Justice News examines Bill C-300 and how it relates to what's going on in the ground in other countries.

Similarly, Toward Freedom describes our 'Long Road to Mining Reform.'

Georgia Straight article on Bill C-300

From the Straight:

Simon Child has never been to Africa, but that hasn't stopped the Grade 11 student at Semiahmoo secondary school from trying to improve the human-rights situation on the continent. Child, director of outreach and advocacy with the nonprofit Africa Canada Accountability Coalition, says one way to accomplish this is to force Canadian corporations to act more responsibly in Africa. In a phone interview with theGeorgia Straight, Child said this is particularly true in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo where several Canadian mining companies operate.

Human-rights groups have tried to draw attention to massive human-rights violations of women in two eastern provinces of the DRC, where warring government and rebel forces have been involved in mass rape. Child pointed out that minerals from the DRC are key components of cellphones, iPods, and other electronic gadgets used by youths, and that the Congolese people will benefit if those resources are mined in the most ethical manner possible. “The first step to doing that is getting our government to make sure they're keeping an eye on these mining companies working in a place that has been called the rape capital of the world,” he said.

This is one reason why ACAC and other human-rights groups are strongly supporting Bill C-300, a private member's bill introduced by Liberal MP John McKay. The bill has passed second reading and is now being studied by the Commons foreign affairs and international development committee. If it becomes law, mining and oil-and-gas companies will be required to act in a manner that is consistent with international human-rights standards to qualify for assistance from Export Development Canada, which is a Crown corporation. In addition, the bill would prohibit the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board from investing in mining and oil-and-gas companies that don't respect human rights.

“Mining companies do not like having this reputation of being human-rights abusers,” Child said. “So if we get this bill, we can know who is doing good and who is doing bad. We could clear the air.”

Alex Neve, secretary general of Amnesty International's Canadian office, told theStraight in a recent interview that governments and companies have long maintained that voluntary standards are the best way to deal with corporate human-rights violations in other countries. “We've always said that voluntary isn't enough,” he said.

Neve noted that in 2006, the federal government launched a consultation process involving industry officials, academics, and human-rights organizations to address corporate conduct abroad. He said that it produced a “remarkable consensus report”, which proposed several steps to enhance human rights. He said the groups waited two years for the government's response, which he described as a “profound disappointment”.

“We need to get some clear human-rights standards developed,” Neve added. “We need to have a meaningful complaint process that would oversee this, and we need to have some real sanctions to ensure that when companies are acting out and not complying with these human-rights standards, there are sanctions—whether that is losing certain forms of government financial assistance or other measures.”

Pierre Gratton, president and CEO of the Mining Association of B.C., told the Straightin a phone interview that his industry supports the creation of an ombudsman's office to review corporations' human-rights records. However, he said that an ombudsman should also have authority to investigate nongovernmental organizations. He added that the consensus report proposed an ombudsman's office to provide more discreet oversight than what McKay's bill calls for. “The ombuds' function was to provide a mechanism into looking into matters and attempting to provide solutions,” Gratton said, adding that punitive actions should only be considered as a last resort.

Toronto Star editorial on Bill C-300

The Toronto Star has come out in support of Bill C-300:

Canada's mining, oil and gas firms think of themselves as good offshore citizens. Certainly, they are a rich source of overseas jobs, wages, royalties and social benefits. Barrick Gold Corp., for example, ploughed $8 billion back into host communities in 2008, employing 19,000 people at mines in Canada, the United States and a half-dozen other countries. It built roads, schools, clinics and more.

But Canadian firms in Mexico, El Salvador, Ecuador, Congo, India, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea have come under fire since 2000 for violent clashes with anti-mining activists, for allegedly damaging the environment, for uprooting small-scale farmers and for other shortcomings, as the Star's Brett Popplewell has reported.

This is notoriety the industry doesn't need.

In Ottawa today, the Commons foreign affairs committee will meet to consider a private member's bill introduced by Toronto Liberal MP John McKay that would have Ottawa tighten scrutiny of mining companies' offshore operations.

McKay's bill would put offshore firms on notice by empowering Ottawa to set corporate social responsibility standards and to create a complaints mechanism. A study group commissioned by the previous Liberal government went further and urged the naming of an ombudsman to police the sector. These are ideas Parliament has good reason to examine.

The industry opposes stricter oversight, warning that it may create friction with host governments, generate "legal uncertainty," put our firms at a disadvantage, and deter investment. That argues for commonsense in drafting standards and weighing performance.

But companies that behave as good corporate citizens should have little to fear from McKay's bill, or from an ombudsman. Getting an official Ottawa stamp of approval would certify that a firm is doing its best to manage inevitable social and environmental risks. That would enhance its stature abroad, and put critics on the defensive. It's hard to see how that would be bad for business.

AI Film Festival - Vancouver

The Amnesty International Film Festival in Vancouver starts with a gala tomorrow night, featuring The Yes Men Fix the World, where a group of men dress up in suits to parody certain corporate executives with no sense of social responsibility. Please find the entire festival schedule here.

Graham Allen: Bill offers Canada chance to deal with concerns raised by mining abroad

Here's an article in the Georgia Straight by fellow Vancouver AI BHR volunteer Graham Allen:

The Canadian government, in a March 2009 report, acknowledged it has a problem: “Within the wider community, increasing concerns have been raised about the human rights impacts of the activities of Canadian extractive companies with respect to their operations abroad.”

Liberal MP John McKay, on the day which his private member’s bill, Bill C-300, passed second reading, was more specific: “There are examples of Canadian corporations behaving badly in places like the Philippines and Guyana and as many as 30 other countries.”

If this is all true, what is Canada doing about it?

In a nutshell, the Canadian government started off well, then dropped the ball, and now has one good chance of doing the right thing.

Starting off well?

The governmental activity of recent years started with the June 2005 report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade entitled Mining in Developing Countries – Corporate Social Responsibility. This was followed by the momentous convening of four National Roundtables on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), “organized by a Steering Committee of Government of Canada officials working closely with an Advisory Group comprising persons drawn from industry, labour, the socially responsible investment community, civil society and academia”. This remarkable process culminated in the Advisory Group Report of March 29, 2007. Its central recommendation concerned the development of a Canadian CSR Framework:

Advisory Group members urge the Government of Canada, in cooperation with key stakeholders, to adopt a set of CSR Standards that Canadian extractive sector companies operating abroad are expected to meet and that is reinforced through appropriate reporting, compliance and other mechanisms.

There followed a series of recommendations, within six major components, in support of this objective. It was a golden moment for those concerned about Canada’s reputation in the developing world.

Dropping the ball?

In its March 2009 paper entitled Building the Canadian Advantage: A Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Strategy for the Canadian International Extractive Sector, Canada laid out its response to the national roundtables. It sought to promote what it called “widely-recognized international CSR performance guidelines with Canadian extractive companies operating abroad”. And it proposed setting up two new institutions: an Office of the Extractive Sector CSR Counsellor and a CSR Centre of Excellence “to encourage the Canadian international extractive sector to implement these voluntary performance guidelines by developing and disseminating high-quality CSR information, training and tools”. It was the word “voluntary” that was the problem.

In comparing Canada’s CSR strategy with the six components of the Advisory Group Report, professor Richard Janda of the faculty of law at McGill University found it to be “partially consistent” with three components and “not consistent” with three others—a disappointing outcome.

Again, McKay was more specific in his criticism of Canada’s response; he complained that the CSR counsellor is appointed by government, not independently, and could only investigate incidents with the approval of all parties, an obvious flaw. Moreover, voluntary guidelines had not proven to be adequate in the past. He was reported as saying: “Let’s be clear here. Canada has a choice. It can legislate a response, which would put Canada at the head of the class. Or it’s more business as usual, see no evil and hear no evil.”

Doing the right thing?

Bill C-300, mentioned above, explains its purpose in the following summary:

The purpose of this enactment is to promote environmental best practices and to ensure the protection and promotion of international human rights standards in respect of the mining, oil or gas activities of Canadian corporations in developing countries. It also gives the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of International Trade the responsibility to issue guidelines that articulate corporate accountability standards for mining, oil or gas activities...

Despite the significant limitation of a private member’s bill, that it cannot provide for the expenditure of public funds, Bill C-300, in Janda’s analysis, was “consistent” with two of the Advisory Group Report’s components, “partially consistent” with two others, and “not consistent” with two, thus being closer overall to the national roundtables. Professor Janda hence spoke favourably about Bill C-300, but concluded:

Indeed, if Bill C-300 were adopted, the CSR Counsellor’s role could be expanded and altered to fulfill functions under the legislation. Bill C-300 would then provide a legislative footing for that role.

Bill C-300 is presently at the committee stage before facing its third reading. If the government could be persuaded to support this bill—instead of claiming that its own CSR strategy is sufficient—Canada would be well-served. As said by Liberal MPMichael Savage in the House debate on Bill C-300:

As an international player, I am afraid we are not the gold standard anymore, but we can do better. We should do better. We should live up to the expectations that the people in this country have for us, and we should go beyond them.

If you are interested in supporting Bill C-300, you can take action via Amnesty International Canada’s Web site.h