OTTAWA — A Liberal private member's bill that makes it illegal for Canadian mining companies to commit human-rights abuses abroad faces a "very tight" final vote in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
Toronto MP John McKay's bill calls for "corporate accountability" of mining, oil and gas corporations in developing countries.
It follows what he says is growing evidence of abusive behaviour — despite some companies' claims to the contrary.
"Regrettably, the facts show otherwise," said McKay. "They show companies involved in human-rights abuses, they show companies involved in using rape and murder as measures of security in order to secure their sites, they show companies operating without licenses in countries, they show significant environmental degradation."
The bill would punish companies found to be engaging in immoral behaviour by putting sanctions on their Export Development Canada funding, as well as removing embassy promotion. EDC is an export credit agency that provides financing and "political risk" insurance to companies that invest abroad, sometimes in volatile regions.
McKay's bill narrowly passed in an April 2009 vote of 137 to 133. It then languished at the committee stage for over a year due to extensions and prorogation.
If passed, the legislation would set up a "quasi-administrative" process within the Department of Foreign Affairs to investigate complaints.
McKay said Canadians possess a "wilful blindness" toward the issue, perhaps not understanding that Canada represents over 60 per cent of mining companies around the world.
"Canada is a world leader in this, in the extractive industry . . . what happens here has got worldwide influence," he said.
McKay also acknowledged the pull of the industry itself.
"I don't think you can ever underestimate the power and the influence of mining companies in the corridors in Ottawa and everywhere else," he said. "They're immensely influential, and they've got very deep pockets, and they are able to get the attention, shall we say, of people who are decision-makers."
The MP said that Wednesday's vote is expected to be "very tight."
"We're always trying to turn people to see the light . . . We'll see how (Tuesday) and (Wednesday) goes to get people around," he said.
Minister of International Trade Peter Van Loan said he "fully intends to vote against it," citing concerns that if the bill was passed, it could drive mining companies out of Canada because it would create unnecessary red tape for them.
"Mining companies are headquartered in Canada not because they're actually doing mining here, but because Canada has a historically well-developed expertise (in the field)," he said.
"Those companies could just as well move their headquarters elsewhere," said Van Loan. "If we create a very unlevel playing field between Canada and other countries that could be perfectly good locations for headquarters, perfectly good sources for capital and markets, we will find that we will lose those businesses and the jobs associated with them.
"Paradoxically, because Canadians are such good corporate citizens, we're actually encouraging them to abandon their good practices here and go elsewhere abroad where they will be less constrained by the discipline of the Canadian marketplace and Canadian society."
A mining industry representative called the bill's goals "laudable," but said the means to get there have him concerned.
"Canadian mining companies are global leaders in the area of CSR (corporate social responsibility) and the objective of a bill like C-300 is laudable, and to be commended," said Paul Hebert, a spokesman for the Mining Association of Canada.
"But the way this bill is constructed, we don't feel it would accomplish what it intends to accomplish," said Hebert. "We're concerned that what it would do is punish Canadian mining companies not based on their behaviour but based only on complaints. Effectively, what it would be doing is opening a complaints desk at the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT), and all complaints would have to be reported regardless of substance."
Hebert said that the bill would put more power in the hands of the minister of foreign affairs in responding to complaints, instead of giving it to an independent ombudsman.
"We feel there are more constructive ways forward to promote, support and improve corporate social responsibility," he said, pointing to DFAIT's appointment of Marketa Evans as Canada's first counsellor of corporate social responsibility for mining.
Evans' role will see her help in "resolving social and environmental issues relating to Canadian companies operating abroad," a DFAIT statement from last week read.
The counsellor, while not imbued with the power to render verdicts in disputes, would file an annual report with the minister of natural resources and the minister of international trade on how Canada's mining companies handled themselves abroad.
But some unlikely support for McKay's bill came Tuesday — from south of the border.
Maryland Senator Ben Cardin, a Democrat who introduced a bipartisan bill that would require American energy companies to disclose what they pay for oil, gas and minerals from U.S. and foreign governments, said he supports McKay's bill and planned on sending a note to all MPs, urging them to pass it.
"I've never had a U.S. senator lobby for my legislation," said McKay.
According to McKay's office, EDC investments in 2008 helped facilitate more than $27 billion in business in the mining sector.
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