Finance committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I'm Perrin Beatty. I'm president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. It's a pleasure for me to present the views of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and its 200,000 members who are active in all sectors of the economy and are present in all regions of Canada and employ millions of Canadians.

Foreign Affairs committee  Mr. Dewar, thank you for your question. Would some argue with our position? Of course. That's why the committee is having these hearings. But are they correct in the case they're making? We believe not. You mention that I modify, that I use words like “could” or “may”. There's a very good reason for that, and that is because the bill isn't in effect.

Foreign Affairs committee  And they would be accelerated by this bill.

Foreign Affairs committee  Why make a bad situation worse?

Foreign Affairs committee  Again, Mr. Dewar, if the government's plan that it has in place—it has been there for seven months—doesn't work, then based on experience, let's improve it. But let's not do something that will have perverse consequences that we can't undo afterwards.

Foreign Affairs committee  They are. What Canadian companies do, whether in the extractive sector or the manufacturing sector or in other areas as well, is bring Canadian standards, which are at least on a par with international norms, usually better than that in terms of best practices, and we try to ensure that the same practices and standards are followed in the countries in which we do business.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you.

Foreign Affairs committee  Perhaps I'll ask Susanna to comment more fully on that.

Foreign Affairs committee  Let me simply say, Mr. Dewar, that we've consulted very closely with our membership to get a sense as to where their concerns lie. We believe the position taken by the Canadian chamber represents the views of our members, particularly from this sector, because they're the ones who are most affected.

Foreign Affairs committee  It would be very negative for economic activity in Canada.

Foreign Affairs committee  It would certainly be very significant. Yes, I try to be cautious in what I say at all times. I would rather understate the impact than overstate it. But suffice it to say, a very significant part of the securities traded in Canada are in fact in the extractive industries. Having said that, much of the activity of those industries is domestic as opposed to foreign, so not all of that would be affected.

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, and there remain all sorts of pensioners in Canada whose pension incomes depend upon investments they have in those companies as well, who expect those companies to maintain high standards in everything they're doing, but also expect that we as a country and you as a government will do what you can to ensure that these companies are fairly dealt with.

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, there are a number of concerns here, but the bottom line is one thing: this bill discriminates against Canadian companies. It puts an onerous regime in place for Canadian companies that does not apply to companies from other countries that are operating in exactly the same context as the Canadian companies are internationally.

Foreign Affairs committee  Mr. Laforest, may I get some clarification from you? Are you suggesting for a second that any Canadian company would support the assassination of trade union officials?

Foreign Affairs committee  Let's by all means address any real issue that exists. If there are deficiencies that are real that exist in the operation of Canadian companies, let's address them. This is precisely the point I was trying to make earlier. We have to be exceptionally careful not to recklessly or carelessly damage the reputation of Canadian companies, particularly when Canadian companies really set the benchmark for the rest of the world today in terms of the standards they meet.