Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from South Surrey—White Rock—Cloverdale for his excellent presentation. From a tourism perspective, there is not a nicer part of the country to visit.
It is with great pleasure that I rise today in this place to speak to the Canada-Honduras free trade agreement. In particular, I would like to say a few words about the issue of corporate social responsibility and how it relates to this agreement.
Corporate social responsibility can be defined as the voluntary activities undertaken by a company to operate in an economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable manner. It is also increasingly referred to as responsible business practices. It covers a broad range of activities, including environmental protection, human rights, labour relations, corporate governance, transparency, community relations, peace and security, and anti-corruption measures.
Our government recognizes the importance of corporate social responsibility in a globally competitive, well-regarded extractive sector. Our government encourages and expects Canadian companies working internationally to respect all applicable laws and international standards, to operate transparently and in consultation with host governments and local communities, and to develop and implement corporate social responsibility best practices.
Canada has a long-standing commitment to promoting and encouraging responsible business practices by Canadian companies operating overseas. For instance, Canada has been a key driver and supporter of the numerous other important international instruments, including the International Finance Corporation's Performance Standards on Social and Environmental Sustainability, the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative, the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, and most recently, the United Nations' Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
This clearly demonstrates that this government's commitment to international corporate social responsibility standards is a fundamental ongoing priority. Our government has turned this commitment into concrete action in a number of ways, including by integrating robust corporate social responsibility provisions into many bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements, of which the Canada-Honduras free trade agreement is no exception.
Another concrete example is Canada's corporate social responsibility strategy for the international extractive sector, also known as building the Canadian advantage. The strategy was announced in March 2009 after extensive cross-country consultations with a number of key stakeholders. It has proven to be a strong framework by which our government encourages and promotes responsibility, responsible business practices by Canadian companies working internationally in the extractive sector.
Our support for the international corporate social responsibility guidelines in principle extends this reach to all business sectors operating anywhere in the world. Therefore, our government encourages and expects Canadian companies working internationally to, one, respect all applicable laws and international standards, including those that pertain to human rights and environment, and two, operate transparently and in consultation with host governments and local communities.
I want to be clear. The vast majority of Canadian companies conduct their operations in line with international standards for responsible business conduct. This is a key reason why Canadian companies are highly regarded and respected around the globe. It is also one of the reasons why Canada is a leader in the global extraction sector.
I wish to comment briefly on Canada's approach, which emphasizes voluntary activities as opposed to regulations, obligatory actions, and punitive measures. Canada has worked hard in support of many corporate social responsibility guidelines, as we understand their value to Canadian companies operating abroad. In fact, they often provide valuable guidance, which allows our companies to succeed. This is reinforced by actions of Canadian companies. There has been a substantial transformation on the part of the private sector with respect to corporate social responsibility.
Today, Canadian companies operating abroad recognize that corporate social responsibility and responsible business practices are fundamentally important to their ultimate success and their bottom line, including shareholder value. They recognize that a commitment to responsible business practice is a commitment to their own success. In a sense, corporate social responsibility has been mainstreamed into the management and operational structure of Canadian companies.
Last June, the Prime Minister announced that our government will be establishing new mandatory reporting standards for Canadian extractive companies, with a view to enhancing transparency on the payments they make to governments. This effort, which will also help to ensure that citizens in resource-rich countries around the world are better informed and benefit from the natural resources in their country, builds on Canada's key role as a supporting country of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. These initiatives on transparency highlight our government's commitment to working with our trading partners to pursue policies that support a responsible and sustainable investment environment in the best interests of host communities and businesses.
Responsible business conduct reinforces the positive effects that trade and investment can have on human rights, labour standards, the environment, and competitiveness. At the same time, it has a significant positive effect on the communities in which the businesses operate. The Canada-Honduras free trade agreement includes provisions on corporate social responsibility because our government believes that liberalized, rules-based trade and social and environmental responsibility go hand in hand.
The parallel agreements on labour co-operation and environmental co-operation ensure that increased business between our two nations does not come at the expense of our social and environmental responsibilities. Activities to promote responsible business practices can also be undertaken in the form of trade-related co-operation. Provisions in these agreements encourage both governments to promote voluntary principles of responsible business conduct with their business communities. Not only do these agreements advance our government's efforts to promote corporate social responsibility; they also provide an opportunity to engage partners to increase its promotion.
Both Canada and Honduras have agreed to support positive corporate social responsibility practices and to remind companies of the importance of incorporating corporate social responsibility standards in their internal practices. A fundamentally important aspect of this bilateral approach is that it helps level the playing field for Canadian investors when they invest in Honduras, by encouraging corporate social responsibility principles amongst all investors. At its core, responsible business practices incorporate social, economic, and environmental concerns into the daily operations of firms to benefit industry and society, with particular consideration for the community in which they are operating. Given that Canada and Honduras have a significant investment relationship, it was critical to include corporate social responsibility in these important agreements.
Our government has shown its commitment to promoting corporate social responsibility and responsible business practices internationally and is pleased to work with trade partners to broaden this commitment. The Canada-Honduras free trade agreement recognizes this and is an important mechanism to create jobs, opportunities, and prosperity for Canadians in a socially and environmentally responsible manner.
For these reasons, I ask all hon. members for their support of this very important agreement.