Paper short abstract:

The paper analyses Canadian public-private partnerships for development involving mining companies and scrutinizes commercial interests, governance considerations, issues of sovereignty, and tasks of state and companies in a case-study situated in Burkina Faso.

Paper long abstract:

Canadian mining companies appear to have a bad track record compared to other western mining companies. Scandals involving both junior exploration companies (Bre-X) and majors (e.g. Talisman and Barrick) have triggered public debates in Canada. Discussions have focused on Canadian companies operating in developing countries marked by weak governance. Should companies that seem to operate beyond the law, or fuel conflicts be held accountable at home, in Canada? Mining companies have been able to prevent this and are now collaborating in an initiative that is linking Corporate Social Responsibility to development programmes of the Canadian government and NGO's, such as World Vision. This public-private partnership initiative is aimed at stimulating development in the host countries, but the policy is called: The Canadian Advantage. This initiative and the debates are most useful to think through the key issue of this panel: how can the aid architecture of neoliberal public-private partnerships be analysed in terms of balancing commercial interest and governance considerations? Moreover, the case of a Canadian Advantage initiative in Burkina Faso will show how this policy initiative works out on the ground. It shows how the context of partnering with NGO's appears to create room for companies to broaden off-set schemes and move away from on-site responsibilities. In addition, the case allows us to problematize issues of responsibility where tasks of states and companies seem to blur as well as issues of sovereignty where control over companies is - if realized at all - exercised in home rather than in host countries.