Foreign Affairs committee  I don't think you can really quantify that, because part of the problem with the bill is that essentially it creates a new layer of uncertainty. We were just talking here about the impact of public opinion and other marker mechanisms in reaction to what happened in the Sudan. T

Foreign Affairs committee  I think we had an example of that in the Sudan, didn't we? And again, I'm still curious. There was a statement that there is no way you could go in there without being complicit in human rights abuses. Well, Canadian companies were not the only ones in there. Are all the other

Foreign Affairs committee  Again, it's a spillover effect. Canada's brand basically is built upon the individual reputations of all Canadians as individuals and of Canadian companies as actors on the global stage. So if we do our best to kind of shoot ourselves in the foot and smear our own reputation an

Foreign Affairs committee  I think I said at the outset that I believe the Canadian companies are on the leading edge of doing the right thing within this industry and within other industries operating around the world. We do better, on the whole, than companies from any other countries. I think it's ver

Foreign Affairs committee  I think maybe just to clarify some of the confusion around here, your colleague, Mr. McKay, originally asked a question about earlier consultations and round table discussions, and we had other references to those, so I've indicated that our council was not directly involved in t

Foreign Affairs committee  I'm citing the fact that they took place. That's all.

Foreign Affairs committee  I think any sensible company takes good advice, no matter what the source.

Foreign Affairs committee  I'll give you a quick answer: kill it.

Foreign Affairs committee  Well, you seem very good at assuming funding; I'm not sure that's a good assumption either.

Foreign Affairs committee  No. I think the bill suffers from a fundamental flaw, which can't be fixed by amendment. Frankly, I think it comes back to some of the issues that have been raised both by Professor Simons and by our colleagues from Harvard here. Essentially, in the examples they were talking a

Foreign Affairs committee  You're going to get companies to do it--

Foreign Affairs committee  Just to be clear, I'm sure we had member companies who were involved, but probably through their sector associations. We, as a council, were not directly involved.

Foreign Affairs committee  I wasn't involved in those particular discussions, so I can't speak to what went into that.

Foreign Affairs committee  I think what's important to address here is that we're taking a concept of corporate social responsibility and trying to turn it into a matter of law. I think Professor Simons made the point that CSR gives one a competitive advantage. It is something that companies do inherently

Foreign Affairs committee  No, but the point is what I'm trying to get at here. I mean, the essence of this bill is to try to turn corporate social responsibility, which is inherently a voluntary activity, into a new vehicle for changing what is required, for raising the minimum that is required by law.