CSR Roundtables - 8 Months Later

Canada undertook a wide ranging consultation process on how its extractive industry should be regulated (CSR Roundtables). This culminated in a report by an Advisory Committee made up of industry, civil society and government representatives. Finance Minister Flaherty has made some strong statements about Canada's committment to social responsibility: 

“Accountability, transparency, fairness—these are the principles of this international partnership, designed to increase the disclosure of resource revenues in developing countries,” Minister Flaherty said following a meeting of Group of Seven (G7) Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors. “They are principles Canada supports, and we intend to play a leading role in ensuring that citizens, not just governments or foreign companies, share in their nation’s prosperity.”

The report has now languished on the shelves for 8 months. Stephen Harper is visiting Tanzania and announcing a major aid project at the same time as Canadian corporation Barrick Gold is facing criticism from civil society. What will happen after Stephen Harper's visit to Tanzania? Will the New Democratic Party commit to holding the Conservative government accountable?

Legislative Accountability

Civil Society Accountability

Legislative Accountability

Canada's New Democratic Party has placed CSR back on the legislative agenda :

NDP MPs Catherine Bell (Vancouver Island North), Paul Dewar (Ottawa Center), Peter Julian (Burnaby-New Westminster) and Peggy Nash (Parkdale-High Park) have introduced motions in the standing committees for Natural Resources, Foreign Affairs, and International Trade and Industry, endorsing the round table’s recommendations and calling for an immediate response from Harper’s government.

Stay tuned to see if the NDP motions survive committee.

Civil Society Accountability - Barrick

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has faced protests about Barrick before, in Chile , but the Tanzania protests are especially timely because of his government's announcements of the new aid plan (Note there is no mention of protestors).

Barrick has fired and tried to replace allegedly illegally striking workers in its Tanzanian mines (Reuters). Prime Minister Stephen Harper met with Barrick during his 8 hour visit to Tanzania (Thanks to The Toronto Star Nov 27, 2007):

"We will be discussing obviously general business (and) what the government of Canada can do to assist in building our investments here," he said before the meeting.

Miners at Barrick's Bulyanhulu gold mine have been on strike since last month. They have complained of inequalities in salaries between foreign and local workers, and non-payment of health and risk allowances as well as bonuses to local workers.

Barrick has called the strike illegal and says it will hire new workers to replace about 1,000 miners who continue their strike. The miners say they will challenge the move in court.

"Instead of meeting with representatives of Barrick, a Canadian mining company that has caused conflict in the community, the Prime Minister should be meeting with the people directly touched by the action of this company that has fired unionized workers, totally disregarded the environment and failed to protect worker safety," NDP foreign affairs critic MP Paul Dewar (Ottawa-Centre) told the Toronto Star from Ottawa.

Harper has been accused of putting the interests of Canadian corporations first. During a July trip to Chile he met officials from the company that has been criticized for its environmental and labour practices.

"We always expected our companies to act responsibly within the laws of the land," Harper told reporters yesterday.

Barrick's mines in Tanzania have a history but Barrick has been cleared of charges (at least by the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman of the IFC). Barrick has taken steps to promote its CSR programs:
PRESS RELEASE – November 19, 2007

A six-year partnership between Barrick Gold Corporation and CARE International Tanzania has raised academic standards and improved the quality of education for thousands of children and youth living near the company’s Bulyanhulu mine in Tanzania.

In 2001, Barrick invested US$2 million to fund a long-term education program in the remote Kahama District, a region that was ranked as one of the poorest academic performers in Tanzania. Since then, primary school enrolment has increased by 75 per cent to over 7,000 children in 2007. According to a CARE evaluation of the program, significantly more children are now making the transition to high school, where enrolment has more than doubled, from approximately 800 students in 2001 to 1,885 today. This year, over 89 per cent of the students who completed primary school passed their final exams, up from just 16 per cent prior to implementation of the program.

“This has been one of CARE’s most successful programs in the country,” said Nick Southern, Country Director, CARE International. “Thanks to Barrick’s long-term investment in this region, we are able to support children from entry level through to high school. This is creating a strong foundation of learning that is a powerful tool against poverty in this region.”

CSR Change

How much traction can an issue like this get in the media and the voting public? Stay tuned. CSR practices of companies like Barrick are unlikely to change when government leaders like Stephen Harper send mixed messages. Real corporate accountability and corpobligation require united consistent pressure on corporations.

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