Mining CEO among advisers for DFATD merger
Critics worry about ties between business, development interests
The chief executive officer of one of the world’s largest mining conglomerates is among those who have been brought in to help advise the new Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development on restructuring.
The move is raising eyebrows among those who say Canada’s development policy is too closely tied to Canada’s business interests overseas.
The Canadian International Development Agency was folded into the federal Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in last May’s budget, creating a new super-department. The federal government said the move would create more policy coherence and effectiveness, but some critics feared it would undermine foreign aid and further tie development dollars to Canadian business interests overseas.
Canada already has several international development partnerships with mining companies — including Rio Tinto Alcan, which co-finances one in Ghana — and promises to “deepen and broaden” its engagement with the private sector “in order to achieve sustainable economic development and reduce poverty in developing countries.”
Jacynthe Côté, the highly regarded Quebec-born chief executive officer of Rio Tinto Alcan, is part of the five-member external advisory group that “has already played and will continue to play a very valuable role in helping us design and test our new way of working together,” staff were told in a memo from the department’s five deputy ministers.
Other members of the group include: Janice Gross Stein, director of the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto; Scott Gilmore, chief executive officer of Building Markets; Nigel Fisher, UN assistant secretary general and regional co-ordinator for Syria; and Susan Cartwright, a former ambassador and top bureaucrat in the Conservative government.
The memo describes the new department’s primary objective as “excellence in advancing Canada’s international interests and values, and in serving Canadians.”
Stein said amalgamating the two departments is a challenge, but she called it a moment of “real opportunity” for Canada.
“I think this really matters for Canada. These are our most important assets as we engage with the world. If this succeeds and we are able to make our best use of those assets, we should have a greater impact on the world.”
The group has been working on the project for about two months and is expected to for at least 12 months. They are doing so without pay.
Côté was unavailable for comment on Monday, but Stein defended the inclusion of the Rio Tinto Alcan executive in the group.
“I think it is important that we have someone from the private sector. We have an academic, a former ambassador and the head of an NGO, bringing that perspective to the table is really important.”
Côté’s involvement does, however, concern some who argue that Canadian development policy is too closely tied to Canadian foreign business interests, especially mining.
Roland Paris, director of the University of Ottawa’s Centre for International Policy Studies, said the inclusion of a mining executive “raises questions about whose interests are reflected in the design of our new foreign ministry.
“One of the issues is whether our development budget is going to be used for export promotion and for promotion of Canadian commercial interests or whether it will be used primarily to reduce poverty.”
Stephen Brown, a professor of political science at the U of O and author of Struggling for Effectiveness: CIDA and Canadian Foreign Aid, said: “I don’t know what kind of expertise the mining industry has in reorganizing the civil service.”
Brown believes the amalgamation and the emphasis on business as a driver of international development is a step backward.
“We eliminated tied aid along with other western countries because we recognized that meeting our own economic interests was hampering aid effectiveness.
“We are now seeing a tilt back toward the commercialization of foreign aid which is likely to reduce aid effectiveness.”
Catherine Coumans of MiningWatch Canada, said the organization is concerned that a representative of Rio Tinto Alcan, “a company that is known globally for human rights, environmental and labour practices that create development deficits at the local and national levels in developing countries, should be advising the Canadian government in this capacity.”
Canada’s moves to integrate development into foreign affairs and bring an investment approach to development are not unique. Other countries, including Great Britain and Australia, are moving in the same direction.
The internal memo to DFATD staff, which was obtained by the Citizen, says the new structure is designed “to encourage collaboration and discourage silos.”
But the memo also recognizes the challenge of building a fully amalgamated department: “We recognize that building our new department will take time; significant change will be implemented across the department and we will learn from our early experiences. We have delivered on a number of sizable change initiatives over the last few years, and we are still absorbing the effects of those.”