TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – 'Anti-C-300' pamphlets, buttons and large signs are everywhere at this year's the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada's (PDAC's) annual convention, as Canadian mining industry groups turn the heat up in efforts to block the controversial legislation.

Bill C-300, if approved, would allow Canada's government to investigate complaints about Canadian resources firms operating in foreign countries and withhold taxpayer-funded financing, such as from Export Development Canada, from transgressors.

The bill, introduced by Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) John McKay, aims to address wide-ranging allegations of human rights abuses and environmental damage by Canadian firms operating abroad.

The proposed legislation has received the support of numerous nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), including Amnesty International and  MiningWatch Canada, which described it as "our best chance to assure the accountability of our government to us, as taxpayers and citizens, by assuring that government financial and political support will not be provided to companies that breach human rights and environmental standards".

Although it is a private members bill introduced by a Liberal MP under a Conservative administration, the industry is not taking any chances.

The bill was one of the first issues mentioned during the opening ceremonies on Monday morning, and journalists were invited to a press conference on the issue later in the day with senior representatives of the PDAC and Mining Association of Canada, as well as several experts that oppose the bill.

“If it is passed, Federal private members Bill C-300 could be very damaging to to the Canadian mining and exploration companies that work in developing countries,” PDAC president Jon Baird said at the convention on Monday.

The proposed legislation is a “motherhood” bill, which seeks to punish companies into delivering good social and environmental performances, he continued.

The bill passed second reading in the House of Commons in April last year, by a margin of just four votes, and the PDAC is calling on industry stakeholders to write to MPs, urging them to vote against the bill.

Although the bill seeks to improve corporate social responsibility, “it will do much more harm than good”, Baird argued.

“Any company working in a developing country could have a complaint filed against it and come under investigation.

“Even if that company is eventually able to demonstrate that the complaint is groundless, the stain on its reputation will not be easy to get rid of.

"The bill even goes so far as to suggest that Canadian companies may be guilty of genocide and war crimes.

“This is a disgraceful suggestion from a Canadian politician,” said Baird.

Parliamentary secretary David Anderson, who voted against the bill in the April 2009 vote, said on Monday he will continue to oppose the legislation.

Canada's new Minister of Natural Resources, Christian Paradis, also voted against the bill.

To subscribe to Mining Weekly's print magazine email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or buy now.