all
16 years 6 months ago. Government accountability, Government of Canada policies and positions. Introduction
On May 29, Bill C-293 or the “better aid bill”, received royal assent, now legally requiring Canadian official development assistance (ODA) to contribute to poverty reduction, take into account the perspectives of the poor, and be consistent with international human rights standards. Finance Canada, among others, is in the process of developing plans on how to implement the Bill in practice. These comments are intended to help Finance Canada in its interpretation of the Bill for the various international financial institutions (IFIs) for which it is the lead agency.
Read more ...
16 years 6 months ago. IFI policies and positions. NGOs applaud adoption of “better aid bill”
Two and a half years after it was first introduced, and after a tense year sitting in the Senate for its final reading, Bill C-293 or the “better aid bill” was finally unanimously approved in Parliament on May 9 to loud NGO approval. It received royal assent yesterday, May 29, which now makes it law.
Read more ...
16 years 6 months ago. . NOUVELLES RÉCENTES concernant LES INSTITUTIONS FINANCIÈRES INTERNATIONALES
Selectionnez ici pour pdf
Adoption du project de loi en faveur d’une aide accrue
Deux ans et demi après avoir été présenté, et après une longue année au Sénat à attendre l’étape de la dernière lecture, le projet de loi C-293 visant à améliorer la gestion de l’aide a finalement été adopté à l’unanimité par le Parlement le 9 mai, à la vive satisfaction des ONG. Il a reçu la sanction royale hier, le 29 mai, ce qui en fait maintenant une loi.
Read more ...
16 years 6 months ago. IFI governance, Transparency and disclosure. http://www.freedominfo.org/ifti/20080516a.htm
16 MAY 2008
Canadian Government Reports on IFI Activity Get Good Grade
The Canadian government’s annual reporting on its activities at international financial institutions is getting better, according to the authors, and to a Canadian civil society group which recently gave the latest report its best grade ever.
The Halifax Initiative said the report on 2007 activities merited a B+, up from last year’s rating of B-, and way up from the D grades of 2001-2005.
Read more ...
16 years 7 months ago. . NOUVELLES RÉCENTES concernant LES INSTITUTIONS FINANCIÈRES INTERNATIONALES
Selectionnez ici pour pdf
Crise alimentaire mondiale, la BM et le FMI réagissent
Read more ...
16 years 7 months ago. . Global food crisis, Bank and IMF respond
While discussions of the World Bank’s new role in the “business” of climate change (see New Publications), the IMF’s new deal on quota reform (see JUST THE FACTS) and financial market turmoil looked set to top the agenda at the Bank and IMF’s Spring Meetings, it was mounting concern over the global food crisis that dominated discussions.
Read more ...
16 years 7 months ago. Corporate accountability, Government of Canada policies and positions. April 25, 2008
Mr. Eric Siegel
President and Chief Executive Officer
EDC
151 O’Connor St.
Ottawa, ON
K1A 1K3
Dear Mr. Siegel:
On March 20, the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo publicly released the report of the Mining Contract Review Commission. The Commission is an inter-ministerial body mandated to review numerous contracts that were awarded to mining companies between 1996 and 2005 in the DRC. The Commission confirms that many of the contracts are highly irregular and that their terms are extremely unjust. The government body recommends that a significant number of these agreements be annulled and in some cases, renegotiated.
Read more ...
16 years 7 months ago. IFI governance. In 2000, the Halifax Initiative Coalition organized a conference on Transforming the Global Financial System. At that time, the prospect of alternative institutions and mechanisms to the Bretton Woods Institutions (BWIs), for funding international development, were very much a matter of theoretical debate.
Now, just seven years later, the landscape has changed dramatically. There are now new players in the field in the form of alternative institutions, such as the Bank of the South and the Chiang Mai initiative. There are alternative sources of development funding, for example through new bi-lateral donors from China, Brazil and India, or from private sources, such as the Bill Gates Foundation. There are alternative mechanisms for financing development and regulating financial flows, such as airline levies, advance market commitments and currency transaction taxes.
Read more ...
16 years 7 months ago. Government of Canada policies and positions, Transparency and disclosure. Click here for PDF | here for Word
The Canadian Government, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund:
A REPORT CARD on FINANCE CANADA’S 2007 ANNUAL REPORT to PARLIAMENT
Executive Summary
Every year at the end of March, the Minister of Finance tables the “Report on Operations under the Bretton Woods and Related Agreements Act”. The Bretton Woods Conference in 1944 established the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). The annual report details Canadian priorities, commitments and interests over the past fiscal year at these institutions. The annual report to Parliament is an important tool for assessing the government’s actions within these institutions relative to its foreign policy and development objectives, and for informing Parliament and the Canadian public about Canadian priorities at these important multilateral fora. Canada is among a number of countries that report to Parliament on their activities at these institutions.
Read more ...
16 years 8 months ago. Corporate accountability, Government of Canada policies and positions, Human rights. Government’s Response to Mining Report Still Underground
By Michelle Collins, Embassy Newspaper
It has been just over a year since a highly anticipated report recommending significant steps to ensure Canadian mining companies operating abroad adhere to socially responsible standards was submitted to the government.
Yet despite indications from Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the G8 leaders’ summit last June that Canada—which has the world’s largest number of extractive companies—was poised to take the lead, nothing more has emerged, and observers and critics say they have no idea what to expect, or when.
Read more ...