In Canada’s 2014-2016 Action Plan, the Government of Canada committed to
“introduce legislation on mandatory reporting standards for the extractive
sector that require the reporting of certain payments made to governments
related to the commercial development of oil, gas and mining.” This
legislation, the Extractive Sector Transparency Measures Act, is now in
force, and the first company reports will be made public in late fall, 2016.
It is now critical that the Government of Canada take steps to fulfill the
intent of the commitment, which stated: “Mandatory reporting standards will
increase Canadians' awareness about how extractive companies' revenues are
spent, which supports transparency and social responsibility and helps to
combat corruption.” While companies will be disclosing more information, it
is far from assured that Canadians will be more aware of this disclosure and
that company disclosure can fulfill the OGP grans challenges 1, 2, 3 & 5. To
implement this commitment, the Government of Canada needs to take several
important steps to facilitate and promote the use of mandatory payments
reports by citizens.
Main Objective: Increase the accessibility and use of extractive sector
payment reports disclosed in accordance the Extractive Sector Transparency
Measures Act.
OGP Challenge Addressed: Grand challenges 3 & 5
Verifiable and measurable milestones to fulfill the commitment:
• Introduce a requirement that all company reports be filed exclusively in
open, machine readable format
• Create a central database where individuals can search company reports
for current and past years.
• Prepare and publish an annual consolidated report, with input from a
multi-stakeholder working group.
• Develop and implement a plan, in conjunction with Canadian civil society,
to increase awareness in Canada of extractive sector payment reporting.