Thank you to all the witnesses for being here.
One of the concerns I have is that in your testimony you have not told us specifically which clauses and specifically how Bill C-300 would help. I would suggest, particularly to Ms. Coumans, who is going to be giving us a written submission, which might be very helpful to come from MiningWatch Canada, particularly in light of the testimony that will likely follow, that this committee—and I would say this to all other future witnesses—is probably best served if we have specific references to specific clauses and specifically how it would achieve the objectives that the bill is intended for.
Mr. Janda, I was interested in your testimony about funding sources being stopped.
I need to understand, are both of your organizations at all familiar with the Equator Principles?
For the benefit of the committee, the Export Development Canada signed on to the Equator Principles in 2007. They require financial institutions to sign on and to rank projects by social and environmental risk. They also require borrowers to submit social and environmental assessments and detailed plans for ensuring that risks are mitigated and results are measured. EDC, in this case, will not be providing loans to projects if the borrower cannot comply with these policies.
It seems to me that these are the steps that are called for in Bill C-300, yet as we see, in 2007, the EDC signed on to those principles. So why in the world do we need Bill C-300?