CIDA Subsidizes the Corporate Social Responsibility of Multinational Mining Companies

In late 2011 the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development started to study the “Role of the Private Sector in Achieving Canada’s International Development Interests.” Among others, the Committee heard from the Executive Director of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada, as well as from a senior vice president of Teck Resources. Mining companies argue that they can deliver on Canada’s international development interests in partnership with development NGOs. The Canadian International Development Agency, CIDA, is now funding three "Corporate Social Responsibility" (CSR) projects at Canadian mine sites overseas. MiningWatch does not believe that this constitutes a responsible use of public funds and that these CSR projects do not address the development deficits created by mining at the national and local levels in developing countries. This is our submission to the Standing Committee.