Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Thank you very much. I understand that I've been invited before the subcommittee because of my research in mining, social conflict, and CSR. I'm very happy to have this opportunity to present my work to the subcommittee. At the outset, I'd like to clarify that my qualitative

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  One of the problems of doing empirical research on this sector is that there is no central clearing house of information on social conflicts between mining companies and local activist groups. I use the term “known conflicts” very specifically to indicate conflicts that have bee

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Yes, anything that involves sustained mobilization of people is counted as a conflict. I should note that this is a common practice under the political event analysis methodology that we use for the counting. My main defence of it is that there is so little data out there. We us

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  We did include an indicator for severity of conflict, but we haven't actually done any work with it. We weren't convinced it was as accurate as the one that just indicates that there is some kind of social mobilization, so we've just been working with that one.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I don't know what remedies the victims would receive.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  My understanding of what's called the enhanced CSR strategy, which was announced in June 2014, is that the CSR counsellor now has the right to investigate a company for allegations of malfeasance, specifically for violating certain CSR codes listed in the policy, and that the onl

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  In theory, any violation of the law or human rights should be prosecutable in the states where they occur. One concern of activists is that in weak states, or in states that are keen on promoting Canadian mining, they're not going to take that step.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Clearly, there are great variations in the ability of developing countries to uphold the rule of law. When we talk about Canadian companies in the developing world, remember that developing countries want them there. There may be conflicts with certain communities located near mi

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I think the problem with social conflict and human rights is a lot about the absence of the state. Where the state is not present to redirect benefits received from mining companies, locals typically see few if any of these benefits. Incidentally, because my colleague mentioned

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  In 2006, there was a round table process that resulted in a multipartite agreement to have a tougher regime for Canadian companies that involved a kind of ombudsman with investigative power. That was originally agreed to by the mining industry. Having not been involved in any of

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  It lacks teeth?

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  Whether or not it was a sincere effort, I think the government was interested then in reducing both the incidence and perception of social conflict with Canadian firms. The other part of the question is whether a regulatory response, as envisioned, would have had any effect eit

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  I won't speak for my colleague, but that's not my position at all.

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  My position, as you'll see from my work, has always been.... I study the mining sector as a fact. I'm not interested in opinionating.... I am unlikely to ever—

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  The private mining sector in Latin America has without a doubt contributed to lowering poverty levels in regions—