Canada leads world in CSR

What the hell is CSR, you ask?

Why, that would be "corporate social responsibility,"

Yup, we're leaders all right. In fact, we pretty much invented the concept, just like we invented R2P and saving women and girls etc.

CSR has been splashed around the Dept. of Foreign Affairs website a fair bit.

I'm suspicious.

I'm suspicious for multiple reasons. First of all, I'm suspicious because Baird's bailiwick is famous for just making shit up. Oh ya, there's been another Russian invasion of Ukraine this week, and so on.

Secondly, I'm suspicious because sometimes Canada's "leadership" isn't what it seems. Take the much ballyhooed leadership in saving women and girls for example. You can find dozens upon dozens of press releases on the DFA website wherein Baird and Co. pat themselves on the back for... saving women and girls worldwide.

Dig into the back-stories a bit, and you'll find they're talking about some "aid" program co-sponsored by some franken-food conglomerate that is providing franken-seeds and the accoutrements of "modern agriculture" to some less developed nation. It's not as if they're lying; franken-foods are indeed edible, and women and girls have to eat, but the way we frame our "aid" tends to be somewhat misleading at times...

OK! Pretty much all the time!

Thirdly, I can't help but think of Gwyn Morgan when I think of CSR. Gwyn talked a lot about CSR while he was Chair of the Board of Directors at SNC Lavalin. Even as he was talking about corporate social responsibility, his company was being exposed as a serial practitioner of bribes and kick-backs world-wide.

Fourthly, when you take a serious look at it, Canada's world-leading extractive industry is a world leader in defiling local environments, abusing local populations, and leaving a mess for future generations to clean up. Mining Watch is a good source of information on how Canada leads the world in ethical extractive practices.

Finally, I'm suspicious because of the very nomenclature of this latest good cause.

CSR. Corporate social responsibility. Think about it; that's ultimately an oxy-moron, isn't it?