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Archived Document
Corporate Social Responsibility
CSR E-Bulletin
2011 - Issue 13
Updates Related to the Government of Canada's CSR Strategy for the Extractive Sector: "Building the Canadian Advantage"
Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) Guidelines for Multi-National Enterprises (MNE): Canada's National Contact Point Annual Report – On May 9, 2011 the Canadian National Contact Point (NCP) for the OECD Guidelines for MNE’s published its annual report which provides a description of the structure of the NCP, and a summary of its activities in the fulfillment of its mandate, both promotion and the treatment of specific instances. The report may be viewed on Canada’s NCP website. This year's annual meeting of NCPs was held June 27-29, 2011 in Paris. Canada’s participation included a role as a lead panellist for a discussion on peer learning related to recent NCP cases.
Voluntary Principles on Human Rights and Security: Canada Hosts Extraordinary Plenary Meeting – On September 15-16, 2011 Canada hosted a successful Extraordinary Plenary Meeting of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights Initiative (VPs) in Ottawa. This meeting was held to finalise key projects meant to strengthen the VPs Initiative - the Plenary agreed to new Governance Rules and agreed to form a legal entity which will be housed in the Netherlands. The Voluntary Principles welcomed Switzerland as a full-status participant and welcomed two new Canadian participants: Inmet Mining and Partnership Africa Canada. In addition, several individual members also launched a collaborative effort to explore key performance indicators and supporting mechanisms that could help the VPs. These participants will report back to the Annual Voluntary Principles Plenary Meeting which will be hosted in March 2012 in Ottawa.
Voluntary Principles on Human Rights and Security: The Implementation Guidance Tools Project - On September 16, 2011, during the Ottawa Voluntary Principles Meeting, there was the launch of the Implementation Guidance Tools, a practical guide on how companies can implement the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights. This tool was developed by the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and the global oil and gas industry association for environmental and social issues (IPIECA), with support from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The tool will be hosted on the Voluntary Principles website.
Global Reporting Initiative - Guidelines Being Updated: As noted in the May 2011 CSR bulletin, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) is currently renewing and updating its current guidelines. The new Guidelines will be developed using GRI’s multi-stakeholder international consultation process, including public consultation periods which will help to ensure that G4’s guidance is consensus-based and reflects the broadest possible stakeholder input. The first public comment period on G4 development concluded on November 24, 2011.
CSR Centre for Excellence - Workshop on John Ruggie's Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights - On September 15, 2011 the Centre for Excellence in CSR hosted a multi-stakeholder dialogue session with Professor John Ruggie, former UN Special Representative on Human Rights and author of the UN’s recently released Guiding Principles (GP) for the implementation of its ‘Protect, Respect, Remedy’ Framework. Ruggie described the GP development process: he and his team worked with 10 multinational companies from different sectors to operationalize the “Respect” pillar and, working closely with legal firms, ran 6 pilot grievance mechanisms to develop the “Remedy” aspect of the Framework. Going forward the UN will appoint a 5-person inter-regional group to oversee the implementation of the Guiding Principles. John Ruggie is now the Chair of a non-profit organization called Shift, that will provide a learning forum for governments and businesses on how to implement the Guiding Principles.
Canada's CSR Counsellor for the Extractive Industry - Upcoming Events – The Office of the Extractive Sector CSR Counsellor has a number of activities lined up for the Fall. Check out these upcoming events on the Counsellor’s website.
Other CSR Activities and Events
Export Development Canada (EDC) - Releases 2010 Corporate Social Responsibility Report – On August 19, 2011 Export Development Canada (EDC), Canada's Export Credit Agency, issued its seventh Annual Report on CSR. “This year, greater integration between our CSR and corporate Annual Reports is a reflection that CSR is not only firmly embedded in EDC’s business activities, but also in its corporate strategy” said Jim McArdle, Senior Vice-President, Legal Services and Corporate Secretary of EDC, who is responsible for CSR at EDC. The CSR report highlights EDC's new Environmental and Social Risk Management Framework which was released in November 2010 and includes a commitment to increase disclosure of information about projects with significant potential for environmental and social impacts. This report is available online on the EDC website.
Just Governance Group Symposium – On August 30, 2011 DFAIT’s CSR Coordinator for the Americas, Louis Guay, participated in JGG’s Annual Learning Symposium. The purpose of this event was to address the issues of Human Rights, Conflict Prevention and Corporate Social Responsibility in the Extractive Industry, specifically in Latin America. DFAIT’s CSR Coordinator for the Americas emphasized Canada’s CSR Strategy and discussed how companies, governments and communities have a shared responsibility towards human rights. Bolivian human rights activist Carmen Beatriz Ruiz and Canadian expert on aboriginal issues Daniel Ricard also presented at the symposium.
Government of Canada's Promotional Engagement Abroad
High Commission of Canada in Jamaica - CSR Initiative – On May 12, 2011 the High Commission of Canada in Kingston, Jamaica in partnership with the RBC Jamaica Ltd., presented its inaugural Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative. Promoted as a conversation on CSR, Canadian Embassy staff welcomed approximately fifty-five specially invited persons from the local private and public sectors, civil society, academia, international development partners and media. The evening’s guest speaker, RBC’s Director of Corporate Responsibility, Ms. Lynn Patterson delivered what was described as a very impressive, enthralling and informative presentation on “Best Practices in Corporate Responsibility”, followed by an interactive session with audience members that further explained the CSR concept and to highlight the positive impact that CSR can have on a company’s productivity, financial health and corporate image. The High Commission of Canada in Jamaica will stage another CSR event in early 2012.
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