Thanks, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Professor Campbell and Mr. Watson, for your presentations and for what I think are some very useful suggestions inspired by the profound experiences of both of you directly in the area of international development or in the area of Canadian companies operating abroad, and particularly in the extractive industry.
I'm struggling a little bit to reconcile views that I think are increasingly seeing things as an either/or proposition. I think there can be a complementary role, a partnership role, for the private sector in achieving some development objectives that the Government of Canada would set. I don't see, however, that you can use private sector money and initiatives to replace what has to be a robust role for a state actor—a governmental agency or department of government—that can develop the government-to-government relations.
As you said, Professor Campbell, often with some of these emerging countries with emerging and developing economies, there are basic rule-of-law issues, basic judicial independence issues. If you have a country where the judges haven't been paid for a number of years and they live off tips, it's not hard to imagine how difficult it is to enforce some contract, whatever the nature of that contract or however legitimate a claim might be.
I wonder whether you would explain, each of you, your view of the concept that private sector participation and corporate social responsibility is not in and of itself contradictory to a country's international development objectives.
By the same token, do you share my worry that we can find ourselves suddenly in a circumstance in which—in error, in my own view—you think you can replace a role for a public governmental agency by simply leveraging private funds?
I'm worried that we seem to think it's an either/or proposition. In my view, in many ways these can be complementary, but one shouldn't be used to offset another, both of which might be legitimate public policy efforts from a government.
Would either or both of you share your views on that notion?