Foreign Affairs committee  As in any industrial operation, there are various levels of expertise required. There is huge competition in developing countries for skilled labour, so companies have to pay higher rates than the minimum wage, especially for skilled labour, because there is such a competition between mines, much like here.

Foreign Affairs committee  Generally the salaries, especially for the technical skilled people, are way higher than any minimum rate in the country itself. In terms of specifics, I'm sorry, I don't have the specifics.

Foreign Affairs committee  Certainly it's raised awareness in terms of the issues associated with, and the complications in terms of, development in developing countries. Both the CSR counsellor and private members' bills have raised awareness around that area. The industry's response in terms of the Devonshire Initiative was a definite result of those kinds of conversations that happened.

Foreign Affairs committee  Let me give you an example that kind of pulls this all together, and it's to do with clean water. I was involved with a project with a company in exploration in Tanzania. Part of that process was looking at what we could do for community development. Water was an issue, and the exploration manager immediately budgeted to drill some wells and wanted to rush out to start drilling wells immediately.

Foreign Affairs committee  There's a lengthy list. You can get it on the website, but let me try to go through the ones I can recall. CARE, Plan, World Vision, UNICEF just joined… I'm going to be abused by the Devonshire Initiative for not knowing all of them. There are over 13 NGOs involved in the Devonshire Initiative.

Foreign Affairs committee  The strength of the Devonshire Initiative is that it's bringing the development NGOs and the extractive sector together to talk about development. Those conversations, to think about this poverty reduction aspect on a much higher level, were not occurring five years ago. The industry had been involved with development NGOs, but more on a consulting basis to help work on either engagement or specific development projects.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair and committee members. I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you today on the important topic of the role of the private sector in international development. As noted, I am the executive director with the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada, and I'm very proud to represent the more than 8,700 companies and individuals we serve.