Follow-up petition on the interpretation and application of Canada’s Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy

Petition: 377B

Issue(s): Compliance and enforcement, corporate social responsibility, governance, human/environmental health, natural resources

Petitioner(s): Canadian organization

Petitioner Location(s): Ottawa, Ontario

Date Received: 17 March 2016

Status: Completed—Response(s) to petition received

Summary: This petition is a follow-up to petition 377. The earlier petition identified Canada as a leading country in the global extractive sector and highlighted environmental concerns about foreign operations of Canadian mining companies. The follow-up petition considers the responses to petition 377 and raises new questions about Canada’s enhanced Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy to strengthen Canada’s extractive sector abroad. The petition asks about non-compliance with corporate social responsibility best practices, widely recognized guidance related to corporate social responsibility, and enhanced economic diplomacy.

The petition refers to the Government of Canada’s two dialogue facilitation processes, which help to resolve differences between communities and companies in Canada’s extractive sector abroad. These processes are those of the Office of the Extractive Sector Corporate Social Responsibility Counsellor and Canada’s National Contact Point. The petition asks whether the assessments of companies carried out through either of these two processes adhere to corporate social responsibility best practices. The petition expresses concerns about the monitoring activities undertaken under each process.

The petition emphasizes and seeks clarification on non-compliance with corporate social responsibility best practices. The petition refers to the “economic diplomacy” approach and requests information on enhanced economic diplomacy offered by the government to companies engaged in either of Canada’s two dialogue facilitation processes.

Federal departments responsible for reply: Global Affairs Canada