Bill C-571 (Historical)

Trade in Conflict Minerals Act

An Act respecting corporate practices relating to the purchase of minerals from the Great Lakes Region of Africa

This bill was last introduced in the 40th Parliament, 3rd Session, which ended in March 2011.

Sponsor

Paul Dewar  NDP

Introduced as a private member’s bill. (These don’t often become law.)

Status

Outside the Order of Precedence (a private member's bill that hasn't yet won the draw that determines which private member's bills can be debated), as of Sept. 30, 2010
(This bill did not become law.)

Summary

This is from the published bill. The Library of Parliament often publishes better independent summaries.

This enactment requires Canadian companies to exercise due diligence before purchasing minerals that originate in the Great Lakes Region of Africa to ensure that no illegal armed group has benefited from any transaction involving those minerals.
It also requires the Extractive Sector Corporate Social Responsibility Counsellor to identify, in the Counsellor's annual report to the Minister for International Trade, those Canadian extractive sector companies that the Counsellor has reasonable grounds to believe are not practicing corporate social responsibility in the Great Lakes Region of Africa.

Elsewhere

All sorts of information on this bill is available at LEGISinfo, an excellent resource from the Library of Parliament. You can also read the full text of the bill.

Trade in Conflict Minerals ActRoutine Proceedings

September 30th, 2010 / 10:15 a.m.
See context

NDP

Paul Dewar NDP Ottawa Centre, ON

seconded by the member for Etobicoke Centre, moved for leave to introduce Bill C-571, An Act respecting corporate practices relating to the purchase of minerals from the Great Lakes Region of Africa.

He said: Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from the Liberal Party for seconding the bill.

The illegal extraction of minerals from Africa's great lakes region has been directly financing the conflict in places like the Democratic Republic of Congo where millions have lost their lives and the human rights of millions more have been violated. We are connected to these conflicts through our use of minerals that finance these conflicts.

The UN Security Council has made recommendations to put an end to the trade of conflict minerals and this bill heeds the call to that action of the Security Council. It would create a due diligence mechanism for Canadian companies to ensure that they are not purchasing minerals that finance conflicts. The bill would also mandate the extractive sector's Corporate Social Responsibility Counsellor to report to the minister and Parliament as to which companies are not practising due diligence in purchasing these materials.

I invite the government to adopt this bill. Should we win a seat on the Security Council, this will be an area where Canada can play a significant leadership role in promoting global peace and security.

(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)