Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development (FAAE)

On Monday the committee met with three witnesses: Pierre Gratton, President and CEO of the Mining Association of Canada; Kenneth Georgetti, President of the Canadian Labour Congress; and Karin Lissakers, Director of the Revenue Watch Institute. The witnesses discussed their opinions on CIDA partnerships with Canadian Mining Companies, specifically whether or not they would achieve development goals in a way that traditional NGOs might be unable to. Also discussed were the possible effects of the Dodd-Frank bill currently being debated in US Congress, all parties agreed that greater transparency from the mining companies would be desirable. The minutes of the meeting can be found here.

On Wednesday, the committee met with Anthony Bebbington, a professor of Geography at Clark University in Massachusetts and Brent Bergeron, Vice-President of Corporate Affairs from Goldcorp Inc. Much of the discussion was focused on how mining companies might be able to promote sustainable development that would persist after mining companies had left the area. The witnesses agreed that the key to long term development was the strengthening of local political and economic institutions in these areas, but they differed on exactly how this might be achieved.