Canada’s Natural Resources Minister vowed to introduce legislation requiring energy and mining companies to report all revenue paid to foreign and domestic governments, but Greg Rickford said its impact on corporate payments made to First Nations will be delayed for two years while Ottawa consults aboriginal leaders.
At a meeting in Sudbury, Ontario in August, provincial and territorial resource ministers endorsed federal plans to impose new mandatory reporting of resource payments.
Rickford said, “we have a responsibility to ensure that here at home and abroad, our corporations – in their relationships that they build in the effort to develop resources responsibility – that they are transparent and accountable.”
The proposed legislation would allow each province or territory to implement its own mandatory reporting regime that could supersede the federal rule, and Quebec has indicated it intends to do so.
The Canadian mining industry has worked with non-governmental organizations to urge Canadian governments to adopt mandatory reporting rules, as the United States and European Union have developed similar regulations. The international effort aims to curb corruption in the developing world, where multinational companies often operate amid poor accountability rules and little transparency for the taxes, fees and royalties they pay to governments.
The Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers says it supports the principle of transparency but has had concerns about how it may be implemented.
(Source: Globe And Mail)
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