A Socially Responsible Mining Industry

More than 60 percent of publicly traded mining companies are based in Canada. As many of them have operations in the Global South, their impacts on developing countries should interest all Canadians. In some Southern communities, residents think of a mining company operating nearby, rather than the country, when they hear of ‘Canada.’

Large-scale mining has the tendency to be tremendously damaging to the environment, and if proper precautions are not taken this damage can translate into health and social problems for people in nearby communities. While mining companies create jobs and pay royalties and taxes, the benefits provided by these often bypass poor host communities and are captured by politically connected elites. Contamination of drinking water, displacement of communities, heightened risk of conflict, and increased political corruption are some of the problems that find themselves attached to the mining sector.

Dubbing themselves “socially responsible,” Canadian mining companies tell us that regulations restricting them from harming vulnerable communities in developing countries are not required. They claim they can abide by high enough ethical and environmental standards without regulation. Our current government takes the same position.

It is likely that most people in the mining sector are “good,” and do not wish to take part in unethical behavior. Unfortunately, people’s “goodness” is not something we can rely on to make sure vulnerable communities are not harmed or unfairly taken advantage of. There are institutional forces which allow even “good” people working in the sector to contribute to bad conduct.

The first of these forces is competition. It drives companies to cut costs wherever they can to maximize profit margins and stay ahead of other firms. Cutting costs can lead to the thinning of safety and environmental standards, and provide incentive to engage in corruption.

Secondly, there is regulation, which should act as a protective force. Currently, however, regulation in this sector tends to be very weak. Hence, it does not stop companies from cutting costs to such a degree that their operations cause harm to poor communities.

Finally, there are the specialization and hierarchy that exist within companies. Employees generally work on component parts of large projects and are often not aware of the full impact of their work. However, even in a case where an employee is aware of and displeased with impacts, it will be easy for her to justify doing her work. In her mind she will shift responsibility of the negative impacts onto those above her who have assigned her the work. She will likely also note that if she was not doing the work someone else would do it. One or both of these two justifications will work through the minds of all individuals who are not wholly satisfied with foreseeable negative impacts, and the project will go on.

Along with all this, we must remember that proximity breeds loyalty, which can often be blinding. Those who work in the mining sector may become conditioned in such a way that they are not able to see its faults; just as Canadians can easily overlook their country’s faults.

As Canadians, we should push our government to regulate the conduct of companies which call Canada their home. As these companies benefit greatly from the patronage they receive from the Canadian state, the Canadian taxpayer is implicated in any wrongful conduct they partake.