By Graham Allen

Last October, I wrote an opinion piece that concluded by asking for support for Bill C-300. This is the private member’s bill that was introduced into the House of Commons by Liberal MP John McKay in February 2009.

The avowed purpose of Bill C-300 is “to ensure that corporations engaged in mining, oil or gas activities and receiving support from the Government of Canada act in a manner consistent with international environmental best practices and with Canada’s commitments to international human rights standards”. There are three essential parts to the contemplated legislative regime:

1. The responsible ministers, those of foreign affairs and international trade, are charged with the task of issuing guidelines, within 12 months of enactment, to articulate corporate accountability standards for mining, oil, or gas activities. These guidelines will incorporate specified standards that are already in effect, together with other provisions “consistent with international human rights standards”.

2. Citizens or residents of Canada or of the developing country involved can submit written complaints to the ministers if they consider that a mining, oil, or gas company is not complying with the guidelines. The ministers have full power to investigate the complaint, including taking evidence from witnesses outside Canada, and the results will be published in the Canada Gazette.

3. Both Export Development Canada and the Canada Pension Plan, by amendment of their governing statutes, will be required to take into account the guidelines before financing, insuring, or investing in mining, oil, or gas companies. In addition, they will be required to cease involvement with any such company found to be not complying with the guidelines.

Nobody would claim that Bill C-300 is the panacea for all issues of corporate accountability. McKay himself has characterized it as “a step on the way”. But, despite the limitations on what a private member’s bill can achieve—notably the inability to expend public funds—the passage of Bill C-300 would provide an unprecedented accountability mechanism for Canadian mining, oil, and gas companies in their overseas operations, establishing Canada as a world leader in this important area. Bernard Membe, Tanzania’s minister of foreign affairs and international cooperation, was reported to have commented: “If the Canadian government would have that capacity to hold their mining companies responsible and accountable...that would be a very, very good idea.”

Bill C-300 is presently being considered by the standing committee on foreign affairs and international development. That process is scheduled to end on June 10, but there is the possibility of a 30-day extension if the committee members agree. However, regardless of any extension, time is obviously getting short in which to have input with the standing committee and, more crucially, to prepare for the big event of third reading. Already groups such as the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada have urged their members to lobby against “this potentially disastrous piece of legislation”. And certain journalists are waxing lyrical in their opposition. Consider the following Avatar comparison from Peter Koven of the Financial Post:

Picture this scenario: A sinister mining company travels to a faraway land and with the help of a psychotic militia, it rapes the land of its natural beauty and slaughters its eco-loving inhabitants.

That is the plot of Avatar, the highest-grossing movie to date. Koven suggested that the allegations made during hearings on Bill C-300 paralleled this plot!

So the fight is definitely on—and the forces opposed to Bill C-300 seem organized and determined. If you support Bill C-300, this is accordingly the time. You can get involved now by sending a message to committee members.

Graham Allen is a lawyer practising with Boughton Law Corporation. He specializes in arbitrations, property-tax assessment, and First Nations economic development. Allen has been a member of Amnesty International since his teens, and is presently studying for a master’s degree in international human-rights law at the University of British Columbia.