Subcommittee on International Human Rights Committee on June 6th, 2013

[Brent Bergeron]

If we take a look at that specific mining operation, given that the mine was actually started in 2002 by Glamis and we took over in 2006, it did give us a shorter window of opportunity to make sure that, number one, our economic sustainable plan would be put in place very quickly, which we did at the time. There was also making sure that our closure plan would actually lead to sustainable activities.

Again, unfortunately, there are some pictures that I would have wanted to show. We would see a site that has been completely reclaimed. Not only is it reclaimed; it is actually contributing to different economic activities in the area. In the past, sometimes sites would be left without that part, which we believe is extremely important.

We start our activities with respect to mine closure at a lot earlier stage to make sure we can work with the local communities, identify what kind of sustainable development economic plans they would like to put forward, and make sure these types of plans are sustainable over the long term. We then help them foster that by making direct investments in these foundations or in these businesses whereby they can start the operations with the necessary seed funding from the company. They then also have a responsibility to make sure that this type of activity will be sustainable over the long term. They take ownership and also management of it.

[Nina Grewal, Conservative, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

On the Goldcorp website, it talks about how the company continues to support the local community there with a range of social programs at the San Martin mine in Honduras. In addition, it says you offer such benefits as road maintenance, dust suppression systems, water supply and sewage systems, providing teachers for elementary schools, maintenance, and educational facilities.

Can you talk about the ways in which Goldcorp supports the Honduras community?

[Brent Bergeron]

Absolutely. All of those activities are very important in our part of the community development plan, even during the mining operation and after. It is important that we see in all of the activities we are currently doing that it is not just a matter of the company actually shutting down at one point and leaving the area. In our mine closure plans, which we're in the process of doing at some of our other mine sites right now, we do place a lot of emphasis on health issues and human rights. We want to make sure that people have access to potable water, for instance. We are currently doing that. And we're able to monitor a lot of these activities. We continue to do that through our membership in the foundation.

[Nina Grewal, Conservative, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Thank you very much.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Are you done, Ms. Grewal?

[Nina Grewal, Conservative, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Yes.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Thank you very much.

We will go now to Professor Cotler.

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I'd like to welcome Mr. Bergeron. As my colleague Wayne Marston said before, it's good to be able to have a joinder of issues on these matters in the witness testimony, so in that context I'd like to go back to what my colleague David Sweet was saying. He referred to some testimony of Professor Gordon. You said you had read the testimony, and I appreciate that.

I just want to reference an excerpt from that testimony. You've touched on some of this, but with regard to the specifics, this is what Professor Gordon said. Then I'd like you, if you can, to react to those comments in this joinder of issues approach. His comments were as follows:

I have met a number of Hondurans, for example, who for more than a decade have been involved in the struggle against Goldcorp, as well as activists with the Siria Valley environmental defence committee who blamed Goldcorp for polluting the local water system and poisoning inhabitants of the valley. They point to deforestation, diversion of natural waterways, starving of poor small farmers of scarce water resources, and food security for the small farmers in the region.

I'd like you to respond to that, because that testimony is on the record, and I felt you should have an opportunity to respond to that.

[Brent Bergeron]

Thank you very much.

To respond to a lot of those questions, I think my pictures would have been very relevant. As far as allegations that have been made against us go, let's start with the contamination part. That's something we take very seriously at Goldcorp. We do monitoring at different levels.

We also believe the governments of these countries are partly responsible for making sure that not just Canadian mining companies but other mining companies from other countries are also making sure that contamination does not occur. That's why I've been a strong proponent of governments of countries building the capacity to monitor and fine companies if contamination does occur. We believe that's extremely important.

There were a lot of issues raised with respect to contamination in the area, and we were part of the group that asked the government to perform studies, which it did. The office of the public prosecutor performed a study on people who were living in the area, and that will be included in the documentation I will put forward. They basically said there was no contamination linked to the mining operation, and that the type of medical conditions that people were referring to were among the conditions that people living in the area had from sun exposure and for other reasons. We were able to get a third party to come in and actually perform this study and describe to everyone—not just to us but to all the people in the valley also—that this type of contamination did not occur at the San Martin mine.

In terms of water—

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Are you referring to the allegations regarding the heavy metal pollution that was the subject of a prosecutor's inquiry to which there was a reference in the Guardian newspaper, or are you referring to different allegations of contamination?

[Brent Bergeron]

These were allegations of heavy metals, but they took a look at all conditions. You'll have a chance to read through it in the report. It takes a look at everything the office did with regard to examining different types of conditions and looking at heavy metal contamination in the area.

The report is there. It does say it wasn't related to the mining operation. That's the report I was referring to.

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

What about some of the other allegations that were made by Professor Gordon, such as issues of “deforestation, diversion of natural waterways, starving of poor small farmers of scarce water resources, and food security for the small farmers in the region”?

[Brent Bergeron]

In terms of that, at Goldcorp, we take especially water.... I mean, water is a very important issue for us at Goldcorp because it is part of our process also. We do look at our water footprint at all of our mining operations to make sure that we try to use the least amount of water possible, and that when we are using it, we are recycling a lot of it within the processing system we have.

For example, in Guatemala at our Marlin mine right now, 97% of the water is actually recycled and reused in the entire process, so we are not actually taking that much water from the existing water system in the area. I would say that in Honduras it was actually a policy that we would take this water issue very seriously in making sure that we were not actually affecting the local water tables. In addition to that, we are actually working, especially after the closure plan, on making sure that all of the water availability in the area is being supplied to the different businesses operating in that area right now.

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Let me ask you a question. Based on your company's experience in Honduras, what are some of the best practices or lessons learned that you could make recommendations about to other companies that are involving themselves in the corporate experience in Honduras?

[Brent Bergeron]

Well, I think I would look at it in terms of not just Honduras but all of our operations. As I mentioned at the beginning, I also am in charge of taking a look at the risk analysis that we do for our company. What we try to do when are actually thinking of going into different areas or countries is to look specifically at those environmental, social, and political indicators to make sure that we know what is important to the governments of those countries and also what is extremely important to the local communities.

This is not different from anything we would do in other areas. As I also mentioned at the beginning of my remarks, the relationship you have at the community level, and having that relationship based on trust, is extremely important.

Consultation with the local communities is something that is really important in order to be able to identify what issues are extremely important to them. For instance, if water is an extremely important issue for them, it's important to actually consult with and inform them in terms of what is the policy of our company in regard to managing our water footprint at our operations so they understand that we are not there to contaminate the water. We are there to work with the communities and to be able to hear their concerns and work with them in terms of being able to find solutions to any concerns that may come up.

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Do you see it as your role to advise the government in terms of government accountability with respect to, let us say, matters such as corruption or human rights violations? For example, Honduras is ranked very low in terms of corruption, and particularly the corruption in the public sector. For yourselves, in terms of part of good corporate social responsibility, would you consider that you should be speaking to the government authorities on that matter in terms of ensuring better accountability in these matters?

[Brent Bergeron]

Oh, absolutely, and I think that we do try to promote a lot of initiatives within different countries in terms of countries signing on to or supporting the extractive industry transparency initiative. It's something that we support as a company. A lot of our people inside these countries are part of the associations that promote those types of initiatives. We do take that very seriously.

We also need to take a look at the reality of the system within which we operate in these countries to make sure that we as a company continue in a very transparent way, so that we don't contribute to any type of activity in these countries that would be considered non-transparent.

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Okay. That's slightly more than two minutes over the allotted time.

We'll go now to Mr. Lobb.

I understand that you'll be dividing your time with Mr. Sweet.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

How long is the time, five minutes?

[The Chair, Conservative, Scott Reid]

Seven minutes.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

Okay.

Mr. Bergeron, my first question for the benefit of the committee is on what standard you are obligated to maintain. What body are you obligated to adhere to when you're doing a project, say, in Central America or South America—or wherever you may be—building, developing or operating a mine?

[Brent Bergeron]

There are different standards that we use. Some of these standards have to do with ICMM. Some of them have to do with EITI, which I just mentioned. Some of them have to do with the different type of processes we are actually going to be using at the mining operation.

For instance, if there is the use of cyanide in terms of a heap leach operation, we make sure that all of our operations are certified by the International Cyanide Management Code, which is a certification that is audited by a third party. It's an extremely rigorous process to obtain your certification, but it basically has to do with how you manage the product of cyanide in your country and how you use it in your process.

Those are some of the examples of some of the initiatives or regulations or associations that we belong to that have a long set of standards.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

You would probably agree, and most people doing business, whether in Canada, North America or around the world would agree, that one of the very frustrating things would be around your duty to consult, with government, neighbours, stakeholders, etc., and in addition to that demonstrating corporate social responsibility.

How does Goldcorp demonstrate, one, that they know all the different obligations they have, and, two, how they work through them and show either the government or the public, or say the environmental groups, that you have done everything you need to do?

[Brent Bergeron]

In different countries there are different standards currently in place. As we use our standards, which are basically across all of our operations, part of our work in corporate social responsibility is to make sure that we do go in and do the consultative process in a way that, first, will build that relationship, but also, second, in a way that makes sure that we do comply with a lot of the international regulations currently out there.

For instance, the International Labour Organization's convention number 169 is very prevalent in many of the countries where we operate in the Americas. Many of these countries have actually signed on to the convention but have not actually implemented it yet. It has caused some delays in certain mining projects.

As a company we do have a responsibility, one, to go in and consult with the local communities, but, two, to see that the parties that are invited to make sure the companies are actually following the right process, along with the communities, are the governments of these countries.

The implementation of these types of standards is extremely important.

[Ben Lobb, Conservative, Huron—Bruce, ON]

I've been in politics almost five years, and I know that not every time something is in the news is it 100% accurate. I'm sure that in working for Goldcorp you feel the same way about things that are put in the newspaper or out in the public.

Anectdotally, out of every 20 stories that you see in the newspaper or you hear on the radio or the TV, how many are true? Is it zero, one, five? What can you tell us there?