Canadian companies flouting CSR best practises risk losing govt support

Mining companies that flout voluntary corporate social responsibility (CSR) standards and recognised best practices could lose the support and advocacy of the Canadian government, Trade Commissioner Service-Operations and Trade Strategy Bureau director general Duane McMullen told an audience at the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada conference on Monday. In the federal government’s 2014 review of the national CSR strategy, it was noted that Canada’s extractive companies were doing a good job, successfully implementing and maintaining voluntary best practices. “[But] there were a small number of firms whose behaviour risked spoiling it for everybody else, harming Canada’s reputation as well as harming the reputation of the industry,” McMullen stated.