Mr. Chairman and honourable members, thank you very much. It's indeed a pleasure to be here. I had the privilege of serving some 23 years, and also as Minister of International Trade. I am now very pleased to be counsel to Fasken Martineau. With me today are two of my colleagues, Raymond Chrétien and Michael Bourassa.
Before joining Fasken's as a partner and strategic advisor, Raymond Chrétien served with great distinction in Canada's public service for 38 years. He was Canadian ambassador to France, the United States, Belgium, Mexico, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. He served as Associate Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs from 1988 to 1991.
Michael Bourassa is the coordinator and co-leader of our firm's Global Mining Group. He is also a director of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada and sits on the executive committee of the mining law section of the International Bar Association.
For the past five years, Fasken's has been recognized by the International Who's Who of Business Lawyers, a publication based in London, England, as the number one law firm in the world for mining. It is without question that Canadian companies must operate in a responsible and accountable manner. The federal government has been working with companies on this aim for several years. In 2005, the then Liberal government, of which I was a part, commissioned a report from this very committee. It instigated a consultative process that culminated in the release by the federal government last March of Building the Canadian Advantage.
The intentions behind Bill C-300 are laudable, as they focus on corporate social responsibility. We submit, however, that the bill is flawed in its construction and highly prejudicial to Canada's mining sector. As many of you know, mining and exploration are very important to our economy. They comprise 5% of our GDP, employ 351,000 Canadians, and in 2008 the industry paid $11.5 billion in taxes and royalties to the three levels of government. The industry also contributes significantly to R and D. In 2006, mining companies invested $648 million in Canada in R and D alone.
Canadian mining companies have exported their expertise to all comers of the globe, and Canada is now the world leader in the global mining sector. In 2008, over 75% of the world's exploration and mining companies were headquartered in Canada, operating in 100 countries around the world. As Mac Penney has indicated, Canada has emerged as a centre of mining finance globally.
The Boston Consulting Group reported that we now have a leading concentration of expertise required to finance mining, metals, and energy in Canada. Financing mining in Canada employs 7,000 financial sector people. Core to this activity are our stock exchanges. Of the world's public mining companies, 57% are listed on the TSX or the TSX Venture Exchange. Along with Vancouver, Toronto constitutes the world's largest source of equity capital for mining companies undertaking exploration and development.
Canadian mining companies, including the juniors, employ many Canadians and engage numerous industries and service providers in support of our international mining activities. These include equipment manufacturers, contractors, consultants, accountants, financial legal advisors, and our financial institutions.
There are 3,140 Canadian goods and services firms supplying our mining sector. We have centres of mining excellence across the country, in Bathurst, Quebec City, Montreal, Val d'Or, Rouyn-Noranda, Sudbury, North Bay, Timmins, Toronto, Mississauga, Yellowknife, Saskatoon, Edmonton, Kelowna, Kamloops, and Vancouver.
In conclusion, given the importance of mining to Canada, and given the country's leadership and expertise in mining activities abroad, we submit that a primary focus of the Canadian government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, in particular, should be promoting our mining industry, both domestically and internationally, and working collaboratively with Canadian companies to continually enhance CSR standards.
Thank you.
Raymond.