Reports and Analysis

Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability (CNCA) Submission regarding the April 2008 Report of the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative on Business and Human Rights

This submission provides feedback regarding the final report to the first part of the Special Representative's mandate.

Policy Brief: Canada at the World Bank and IMF – Watching from the sidelines? - July 2008

In 2007, Finance Canada substantially improved both the content and format of its annual "Report on Operations under the Bretton Woods and Related Agreements Act". Now that the government has finally disclosed its positions on issues, and its priorities looking forward, HI is finally in a position to critique some of the issues covered in these reports. This policy brief addresses some of the most important issues covered in the report, most of which have been a traditional focus of our work.

Final Report: Changing Face of Global Development Finance (April 2008)

This Final Report on "The Changing Face of Global Development Finance - Impacts and implications for aid, development, the South and the Bretton Woods Institutions", includes a summary of the presentations and discussions from the Halifax Initiative conference on February 1st and 2nd, 2008.

Background reading, glossary of terms, the final agenda, speaker biographies, participants’ list, and presentations and speeches for the meeting are also available on the conference web site .

Report Card on Finance Canada's 2007 Annual Report to Parliament on the BWIs (April 2008)

For the past four years the Halifax Initiative Coalition has produced report cards on the annual reports to Parliament on the World Bank and IMF. In general, the 2007 Annual Report marks a substantial improvement over the 2005 and 2006 annual reports, both in format and in particular, in content. In all, the new medium term framework does a much better job of articulating a more coherent and consistent government strategy for the Bank and Fund, and providing benchmarks against which to evaluate the government’s performance in the coming years. Next year’s annual report would do well to include indicators against which to measure, more clearly, success in meeting these goals.
Grade: B+

Export Credit Agencies and the International Law of Human Rights - January 2008

This paper was prepared to inform the mandate of the Special Representative of the United National Secretary-General on Business and Human Rights. The paper argues that currently, state obligations under international law are not being met in the provision of officially-supported export credit and investment insurance services. The paper provides recommendations for home states regarding export credit agencies and international human rights.

Policy Brief: G8 and IMF Hinder Aid for Zambia While Vultures Attack (September 2007) - KAIROS

This policy briefing from KAIROS - Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives, a member of the Halifax Initiative Coalition, looks at the case of Zambia, and how it represents a prime example of an impoverished country betrayed by the failure of the Group of Eight to deliver promises of more aid and effective debt relief. This report chronicles how G8 promises of debt cancellation have been of little benefit to the poor due to a decline in Official Development Assistance and the International Monetary Fund’s obsession with low inflation and restrictive fiscal policies.

Dirty Business, Dirty Practice - How the Federal Government Supports Mining, Oil and Gas Abroad (May 2007)

A new CNCA web site and publication that documents, with case studies, the eight ways the Federal Government supports Canadian mining, oil and gas companies abroad. The Halifax Initiative was a contributing author to the publication.
*EDC letter to HI on the report (July 2007)
*HI response to EDC (September 2007)

Report Card on Finance Canada's 2006 Annual Report to Parliament on the BWIs (April 2007)

For the past three years the Halifax Initiative Coalition has produced report cards on the annual reports to Parliament on the World Bank and IMF. In general, we are encouraged by the enhanced content and format of this year’s annual report. It is a step in the right direction and Finance Canada should be commended for taking this “good faith” initiative. However, the failure to include any clear and systematic indication of goals, objectives and actions for the coming year is still a major shortcoming. As a result, the report provides no benchmarks against which to evaluate the Government of Canada’s performance in next year’s report or to register changing objectives.

Grade: B-

Letter from the IFC in response to "One Step Forward, One Step Back" - September 29, 2006

This letter from the International Finance Corporation's Director of the Environment and Social Development, Rachel Kyte, responds to a number of issues raised in our report on the IFC's new Performance Standards, "One Step Forward, One Step Back", and attempts to set the record straight "as a matter of public record". The detailed response to a number of issues is included in annex 1, with a statement on IFC's approach to human rights in Annex 2, both included here as a pdf.

Mind the (Growing) Gap – Debt, Aid, and Trade (July 2006)

This is a short opinion piece written in July 2006 by Fraser Reilly-King , the Coordinator of the Halifax Initiative Coalition, one year on from the Group of Eight's "Historic" meeting in Gleneagles, Scotland.

The Legal Obligations With Respect to Human Rights and Export Credit Agencies - July 2006

This Legal Analysis is a revision of an earlier discussion paper prepared for ESCR-Net and ECA-Watch. It provides an overview of Export Credit Agencies, and how ECA-funded activities impact human rights. It explores the international law of state responsibility as applied to ECAs, concluding that ECAs, as organs or agents of the state, must comply with the international obligations of the state. It then explores the legal implications of this conclusion for ECAs.

Report - Analysis of the Finance Report on BWIs - 2005 (June 2006)

Since 2005, the Halifax Initiative Coalition has produced an annual Report Card on the Department of Finance's Annual Report to Parliament on the Bretton Woods and Related Agreements Act - namely on the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). Past Report Cards have found that Finance's Reports provide some good background information on the history, mandate and operations of the institutions. However, they fall short on providing the qualitative and quantitative information necessary to provide Canadians with an adequate picture of Canada's relations with the Bank and the Fund, and how our participation within these institutions is achieving our development and foreign policy goals. As this report is, effectively, the only means by which Parliament and the public is officially informed of Canada's relations with these institutions, the lack of information creates a serious gap in public accountability and awareness.

Grade: D

"One Step Forward, One Step Back" (May 2006)

Overview and Analysis of the International Finance Corporation's (IFC) Sustainability Policy, Performance Standards and Disclosure Policy

Moving Beyond Voluntarism - Canada, Mining and CSR (November 2005)

Canada is a leader in the global mining industry, with the almost 60% of the world's exploration and mining companies listed in Canada. The government's response to a landmark report on mining and corporate social responsibility by the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade (SCFAIT) is weak and inadequate given the severity of the problem and the strength of the SCFAIT's recommendations, and ignores the fact that, "for many communities abroad, these exploration and mining companies are the 'face of Canada.' "Moving Beyond Voluntarism" is a Civil Society Analysis of the Government Response.(November 2005)

Two Reports - Driving under World Bank and IMF Influence (October 2005)

Two reports, prepared in 2005 by the Social Justice Committee, look at the role of the World Bank and the IMF in Guyana and Senegal, highlighting how excessive control of the institutions over development plans undermines democracy and the programs themselves.

Report - Analysis of G8 Debt Deal (June 2005)

KAIROS and Halifax Initiative Coalition provide short analysis of the details of the G8 Finance Minister's debt deal announced on June 11, 2005.

The Divisive Demonstration Impact of the Marlin Mine - June 2005

Glamis Gold's Marlin Mine in Guatemala represents the "Company's most important gold asset," and the World Bank's hopes for a poster-child that would set a new standard for "sustainable mining." Yet before operations have even begun, the controversial projecthas become a focal point for protest and has consolidated opposition to mining in the country.

Unpublished Op-Ed The New President's Challenges - Who's Going to Reform the World Bank? (June 2005)

This Wednesday Paul Wolfowitz will walk into an imposing glass and steel building on 18th Street in Washington, D.C. and start his first day in what could be the most challenging job he has ever held. As the 10th President in the 60-year history of the World Bank, Mr. Wolfowitz will have an unprecedented opportunity to help steer the direction of development as we rapidly move towards the Millennium Development Goal targets. But to do so he will have to confound his critics, defy skeptics and dramatically change both his approach to the international community and more importantly the attitude and engagement of the institution he now heads.

Report - Analysis of the Finance Report on BWIs - 2004 (April 2005)

The 2004 report provides some good background information on the history, mandate and operations of the institutions. It falls short, however, of providing the qualitative and quantitative information necessary to provide Canadians with an adequate picture of Canada's relations with them. As this report is, effectively, the only means by which Parliament and the public is officially informed of Canada's relations with these institutions, the lack of information creates a serious gap in public accountability and awareness.

Review and Analysis of EDC's Disclosure Policy (March 2005)

This Report was prepared by the Sierra Legal Defense Fund on behalf of the Halifax Initiative Coalition. The Review looks at Export Development Canada's record on transparency in the context of the Access to Information Act, and national and international standards for transparency, and practice among other export credit agencies (ECAs) in terms of revealing project and environmental information. The report also tackles the issues of commercial confidentiality, and how to protect company concerns while responding to public demands for greater transparency and accountability from Crown Corps.

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