I'd like to respond to a number of points raised in the question.
First of all, the Government of Canada, in adhering to and promoting the OECD guidelines for multinational enterprises, does have an economy-wide approach and the national contact point, representing a mechanism to both promote and address complaints associated with implementation of those guidelines by Canadian firms working in Canada, as well as Canadian corporations working abroad.
Secondly, as noted in my opening remarks, increasingly business—and in particular, businesses in the mining and oil and gas sectors working in Canada and abroad—recognize that their competitiveness in terms of access to resources and the ability to earn their legal and social licence to raise funds and be supported by shareholders requires not only economic performance but environmental and social responsibility performance against those international standards outlined by the IFC, as well as the specific laws of any country in which they operate.
In regard to your question on specific challenges in the bill, I return to the point I made that a number of carefully considered mechanisms are in place now that have arisen over the past number of years, as I noted, including the OECD guidelines and national contact point, work by industry, and then the four pillars of the government strategy, which we believe together provide a fulsome response to addressing the twin objectives of improving CSR performance, addressing challenges as they arise, and improving the governance capacity of host countries working in partnership with those governments.
The addition of a legislative approach such as envisaged in Bill C-300 would add a different dimension that we believe is inconsistent with the policy-based proactive approach to addressing those objectives, as I noted in the CSR strategy, which builds on a number of mechanisms already in place. So it's that concern that this mechanism and the complexity and cost associated with it will create the potential for confusion and duplication and not allow the collaborative, proactive approach of the strategy to move forward. It'll be really driven by meeting the minimum rules envisaged in that, as opposed to reaching for the bar of improved performance and addressing the root issue of the governance capacity challenges in developing countries.
One of the areas that the bill notes is in regard to respecting human rights and the role of corporations. Currently state conventions on human rights link the responsibility or outline the relationship between individuals and the state. The work of John Ruggie, which is still under way, mandated by the UN Secretary General, is looking at the issue of the role of corporations, but that work is not as yet complete. I think it would be very challenging for Canada to step into that area before that work is complete and addressed in a multilateral UN process that it originated from.