Ethical Interference

Canadian mining and oil exploration/extraction enterprises operating abroad, particularly in under-developed areas of the world, have earned a nasty reputation as unscrupulous operators whose business practises run directly counter to the interests of indigenous populations. These corporations, short on ethics, have often allied themselves with repressive governments to the further detriment both of their already-sullied reputations and to the well-being of local people.

Not all such enterprises are involved in questionable business and human-rights practises. Some have learned, through the sting of public approbation and strident protest that it is in their best interests while methodically and mechanically stripping countrysides of their mineral and energy resources to respect the locals and to even go one further, by investing some of their profits back into the local economy by helping to build badly-needed civic infrastructures.

But there are some, like Talisman Energy Inc. who have been hauled to account in a court of law as a result of their rapacious practises and troubling alliances. The Government of Canada, fully aware of these occurrences, should long ago have called on Talisman and others of their ilk to reform its dealings abroad. The very fact of their existence and their frightful reputation should have been sufficient to incur the disapproval of their government and to spur it to persuade the company to re-think its practises.

Now, because a lawsuit has been launched against Talisman Energy, filed in 2001 in the U.S., by the Presbyterian Church of Sudan, alleging that the company assisted government troops to conduct an ethnic-cleansing campaign to drive villagers off the oilfields of southern Sudan between 1998 and 2003, the government of Canada has involved itself. In a brief to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, Canada argues that such a case would "create friction in Canada-U.S. relations".

Isn't that morally appealing? "This is outrageous," says Justin Laku of Canadian Friends of Sudan. "It amounts to saying, "We don't want you to put Talisman on trial because we have to protect our interests, and shareholders' interests. What about the interests of the people in Sudan whose lives were lost? Canada stands up on the international stage and talks about human rights and good governance in Africa, while at the same time obstructing the course of justice when a Canadian company is involved."

What an indictment against Canada itself. Surely we can do much, much better. If not for the sake of our own fragile dignity, in failing our obligations toward others, then for pity's sake, for the people whose lives have been so dreadfully interrupted and countless others whose futures have been fraught with difficulty as a partial result of Talisman's activities.

The irony is that while our government disgraces itself in this manner, a coalition of mining and oil-industry leaders and human-rights groups have publicly called for meaningful oversight of the sector. This, in direct response to a growing awareness and concern over activities of some Canadian mining and oil firms operating overseas.

For its part, Talisman has denied it was aware government troops were utilizing its facilities for bombing missions. Once it discovered that to be the case, it claims to have insisted on a halt to the bombing sourced on its grounds. In the U.S. alone there are over ten thousand refugees from southern Sudan who fled the country during the civil war in the period in question. Many lost family members.

The Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade, a Canadian government body, had urged the government in 2005 to adopt legal norms to govern the activities of Canadian mining and oil companies overseas. The government of the day rejected that advice.

It's time the current government had another, pointed look at it.