I will be very brief, because I'd like to hear from you, Mr. Tougas.
In 2007, you took part in a workshop on the responsibilities of mining companies. In the report that I read, participants said that the voluntary principle was not well-suited to the operational needs of companies. At the end, we see a commitment by the Government of Canada, the embassy, to sponsor workshops on ways to apply the recommendations set out in the report by the National Round Tables Advisory Group.
I don't know whether there was any follow-up to this. I put this question to people from Foreign Affairs and International Trade earlier. I think results were quite mixed. There was, however, a commitment that came out of it. I would like to know where this is going.
If we look at what is happening at present, we see that the mining companies are being fingered. What we're hearing in our offices from the civil society representatives is that there are serious environmental problems, among other things. We are also hearing that terrible things are being done in violation of human rights.