TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – The Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), in partnership with the government and other stakeholders, has set up a website to help mining, oil and gas companies based in the country and operating abroad meet their social and environmental responsibilities.

“This new website will be a one-stop shop with the latest information on corporate social responsibility rules, laws and best practices,” said Canadian Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway Stockwell Day.

“It will also feature timely, practical information and advice on foreign countries, local networks and relevant experiences of Canadian companies, civil society and other stakeholders operating abroad,” he said in a statement.

The site is hosted by the CIM and was developed in consultation with the federal government, industry, civil society, academia, indigenous representatives and expert practitioners.

It will offer an inventory of experts, contacts, activities, reference materials, policies and regulations, country profiles and existing Canadian and international tools to assist companies in developing solid corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies.

It will also aim to provide a forum in which companies, CSR practitioners and stakeholders in Canada and abroad can share experiences and best practices, and facilitate the development of education programmes for industry and stakeholders.

“If a Canadian company in the extractive sector wants to find information on how to set up a community development programme in Peru, it will be able to go to this website and find partners, as well as information on local legislation and investment frameworks,” Day said.

The activities of Canadian miners operating in foreign countries grabbed headlines in the second half of 2009, when hearings were held into a private members bill that seeks to give the Canadian government the right to investigate claims of human rights or environmental abuses by Canada-based companies.

According to the Bill C-300, which is expected to go to a third-reading vote in the spring of 2010, taxpayer-funded financing, such as from Export Development Canada, would be withheld from companies found to have violated human rights or environmental standards.

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