Reflections on the corporate social responsibility landscape for Canadian mining transnational corporations in the aftermath of Nevsun Resources Ltd v Araya

Abstract

This paper explores the corporate social responsibility (CSR) landscape for Canadian mining transnational corporations (TNCs) in the wake of the landmark decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in Nevsun Resources Ltd v Araya, which settles, as concrete law, the right of foreign victims of transnational torts committed by Canadian TNCs to bring an action in Canadian courts. The paper acknowledges that there has been an increasing tendency by the Canadian government to create, by way of legislation, legal responsibility for some of the corporate behaviours that had been only governed by CSR initiatives. It argues that the right of action established in the Supreme Court decision adds to the introduction of legal responsibility into the realm of social responsibility, thus calling into question the continuing relevance of CSR initiatives for mining TNCs. It concludes that despite the apparent encroachment upon the social responsibility sphere by legal responsibility, CSR initiatives still hold a place of importance for mining TNCs. Canadian mining TNCs will continue to use the CSR front to gain acceptance in local communities, but may now be potentially held legally responsible through extraterritorial litigation in Canada when their activities run afoul of their own CSR creed or programme and/or violate the rights of local people in their host countries.