New Office To Handle Complaints Of Abuses By Overseas Canadian Mining Firms
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (AHN) – The Canadian government announced Tuesday the opening of an ombudsman office to resolve disputes involving the overseas operations of Canadian mining companies.
Ottawa opened the office, headed by Marketa Evans, because of mounting complaints of human rights abuses and environmental damage caused by Canadian mining firms abroad.
The announcement came a day ahead of a vote in the House of Commons on a bill authored by Toronto MP John MacKay. The bill pushes for greater corporate responsibility among mining, oil and gas Canadian firms operating in developing nations.
The bill would impose sanctions on Canadian firms proven to have engaged in immoral behavior. The sanctions would affect the companies’ Export Development Canada funding and embassy promotion. MacKay said he filed Bill C-300 because of complaints that some Canadian companies resort to rape and murder to secure their sites, operate without licenses and harm the environment.
The bill passed in April 2009 with a vote of 137-133, but stayed at the committee stage for more than a year because of extensions and the temporary closure of Parliament.
MacKay criticized the ombudsman office for lacking powers to sanction erring Canadian firms, but Evans stressed her office’s role is to solve problems, not to probe. The Mining Association of Canada favored the ombudsman’s office over the body proposed by MacKay’s bill because of the punitive measures in Bill C-300.
Evans is the former director of strategic partnerships for the nonprofit group Plan International.
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