There are two parts to the question.
I'll describe the positive impact of Canadian companies operating in developing countries, and then, in a sense, if they were to pull out, it's the converse of that.
First of all, there is the investment. Foreign direct investment is going in to do the exploration and the development of the mines. We'll talk about mines, but oil and gas also come into this. We'll use mines as an example. There's the initial investment. That gives rise to long-term employment for individuals in the community and their families. What is being discussed frequently in the CSR discussions generally, in the positive sense, is that firms also provide health and education and other social services to the communities. In Canada those are the responsibilities of governments. In developing countries, the general practice is that the firm will provide that for the community, particularly in a rural area. The governments don't generally have the capacity. So there is that element to it.
There's also technology transfer. Canadian firms bring in state-of-the-art technology for the mining industry and people get trained. There's also the revenue side. Royalties and taxes are paid. They differ from country to country, but certainly some of the research I've been doing shows just how significant revenue from the sector is to countries. Take the example of Peru. Close to 50% of the revenue at the national government level comes from the extractive sector, from taxes, royalties, and other things such as that.
I won't speculate as to what would happen if the firms were to pull out because my guess is that, first of all, they have a large stake in that, 35 to 50 years for a mine sometimes, and that would be a major decision, but the benefits they have brought would go with them in some respects, yes.