Imagine your home town or city was being environmentally or developmentally harmed by the operations of a mining company: many of your neighbours are forcibly evicted from their homes your water sources are contaminated or severely depleted your productive lands contaminated and exhausted your forests stripped there is a spike in air and noise pollution the health of your children is compromised you or your neighbours who protest these harms and violations are subject to repression (including killings). No North American citizen, let alone politician, mining company official or investor, would agree to live their lives under a regime of self-regulating, non-binding standards. This continuing lack of enforceable criminal and civil legislation is a hypocritical double standard. " establish a scheme within the Income Tax Act that provides refundable tax credits for CSR reporting using GRI Guidelines or their equivalent." ( p.vi ) To add insult to injury, the Advisory Group recommends that Canadian mining companies – already benefiting from some of the most favourable tax breaks in the world – get a new tax break for abiding by the non-binding CSR Human rights, environment and development concerns were the very reason the Parliamentary Committee recommended enforceable legislation in the first place, recognizing that the non-binding, ‘soft law’ CSR Framework provides for effective immunity from any legal accountability.Ĭivil society participants that helped author the report pushed hard for binding legislation during the Roundtable process, but industry and government participants prevailed, arguing: "voluntary industry guidelines sufficient to ensure compliance with basic human rights and environmental standards." (p. This constitutes a complete abdication of responsibility. "In making these recommendations, the Advisory Group recognizes that the CSR standards and reporting frameworks recommended for initial application fall short of addressing the full range of issues of concern regarding the extractive industry, particularly with regard to human rights." (Advisory Group Report, p. The Advisory Group admits the CSR Framework is Predictably, mining companies are rarely sanctioned in any way, in any country, despite the well documented harms and violations. iii)įor decades, the global mining industry has governed itself (judge, jury and no prosecution) via this 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." (Advisory Group Report, p. "The central recommendation in the report concerns the development of a Canadian Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Framework. ![]() ![]() In response, a Canadian Parliamentary Committee recommended in 2005 that legislation be passed so that Canadian mining companies could be held accountable for environmental and development harms and human rights violations caused by their mining operations.Īnd yet, after a year of cross country public discussions – National Roundtables on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the Canadian Extractive Industry in Developing Countries – the final report of the Advisory Group (comprised of industry, government, academics and civil society) does not recommend the passing of binding and enforceable criminal and civil legislation. ![]() These harms and abuses have been widely documented by non-government organizations and some media in the global north and south. They have no way to hold the companies and investors accountable, neither where the harms and violations occur, nor in the home countries of the companies and investors. In the exploited countries of the global south, peoples and communities harmed by multinational mining companies have no way to prevent or remedy environmental and development harms and human rights violations caused by mining.
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