moved for leave to introduce Bill C-421, an act to amend the Export Development Act.
Mr. Speaker, the Export Development Corporation is exempted from the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act, the Access to Information Act, and the provisions of the Auditor General Act requiring all federal departments and some agencies to undertake sustainable development strategies and implement them. As a result, the Export Development Corporation has supported certain projects that are harming the environment and even human rights in nations in which Canadian companies operate.
For example, the EDC has helped fund mining companies responsible for massive mine tailings spills. Do hon. members remember the Kumtor cyanide mine spill in Krygyzstan, the Omai gold mine in Guyana and the OK Tedi copper mine in Papua, New Guinea.
It is not only very desirable but also urgent that the policy of the Export Development Corporation be guided by sound environmental principles, and this bill aims at ensuring such a goal.
(Motions deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)