FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Canadian mining firms agree to clean up global act

Canadian mining firms agree to clean up global act

Report seeks penalties against unethical Canadian mining operations abroad

OTTAWA (CP) _ Canadian mining and oil companies should have their government financing and other benefits withdrawn if they are found to have acted unethically or committed human rights violations while operating abroad, a government-led committee on corporate social responsibility says.

For pdf, click here.

UN Special Representative explores human rights obligations of financial institutions
There is growing consensus that human rights rank high among the pressing challenges that face both the private sector and its financiers. On February 16, the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative on Human Rights and Transnational Corporations, John Ruggie, and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights convened a consultation on human rights and the financial sector in Geneva. The meeting included representatives from a number of export credit agencies (ECAs), the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation, several Equator Principle banks, academia and civil society.

For pdf version, click here.

Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights,
in Cooperation with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and other Business Enterprises

Consultation on Human Rights and the Financial Sector

February 16, 2007, Geneva

Groundswell of Interest in Canadian Overseas Extractive Operations
This month the Government of Canada’s final roundtable on Corporate Social Responsibility and the Canadian Extractive Industry in Developing Countries was held in Montreal (see April 2006, Issue update). In order to accommodate public demand, more time was dedicated to public sessions in the November roundtable than in any of the previous consultations. Roundtable participants heard diverse perspectives from an impressive range of stakeholders. An Indonesian speaker described how her community is affected by the operations of a Canadian mining company. John Ruggie, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on business and human rights also addressed roundtable participants.

Presentation to the Corporate S