Question Period Note: Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE)

• Canada’s extractive industry brand is one of excellence at home and abroad.
• We expect Canadian exploration and mining companies to operate in accordance with the laws of host countries and to the highest environmental standards.
• These expectations are set out in the Government’s Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy, as well as international standards endorsed by Canada.
• Canada’s approach to corporate social responsibility focuses on helping companies and stakeholders find solutions that work.
• Canadian companies and industry associations are recognized globally for their innovation and leadership in implementing ethical, social and environmental practices.
If pressed:
• Canadian companies in the extractive sector account for almost half of worldwide mining activities and employ thousands of people at home and abroad. Two-thirds of Canadian mining companies’ operations are outside Canada.
• A full range of trade promotion tools — including Foreign Investment Protection Agreements, Free Trade Agreements, the Trade Commissioner Service, advice and assistance from the Canadian Commercial Corporation and Export Development Canada — are available to keep the “Canada brand” strong and growing.

In January 2018, the Government of Canada announced two new initiatives to strengthen Canada’s approach to responsible business conduct for Canadian companies doing business and operating abroad: the creation of an independent Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE), and the creation of a multi-stakeholder Advisory Body to advise the government and the CORE on responsible business conduct abroad. In April 2019, the Government of Canada appointed Ms. Sheri Meyerhoffer as the first Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise. The CORE’s mandate was amended via an Order-in-Council in September 2019.

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