On 26 March 2008, Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Canada was launched, with a workshop on A Canadian appeal for revenue transparency in oil, gas and mining industries.

PWYP is an international coalition of non-governmental organizations seeking to ensure that natural resource extractive companies are required to publish the payments they make to all national governments and authorities. PWYP aims to increase the public accountability of governments and oil, gas and mining companies for the management and allocation of extractive industry revenues. The event offered the opportunity to introduce the new PWYP-Canada Coordinator, Mr. Ousmane Déme. He is an international development professional with a multidisciplinary, broad-based experience in the private and the non-profit sectors, including prior experience as a consultant with the UN Economic Commission for Africa and a researcher for Partnership Africa Canada.

Closely linked to PWYP is the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which aims at strengthening governance through improving transparency and accountability in the extractive industry sector (www.eitransparency.org). On February 28, 2008, Natural Resources Canada put on a workshop, in Ottawa, on Canadian Visions of Global Norms for Transparency: An EITI Outreach and Information Session. Mr. Déme made a presentation in the Views from the Ground: Putting Public Participation into Practice session, chaired by Ms. Clare Bonnell, TI-Canada Chair and President.

Another joint activity by TI-Canada and PWYP-Canada will be a press conference and panel discussion to mark the Canadian launch of Transparency International’s 2008 Report on Revenue Transparency of Oil and Gas Companies, May 9, in Ottawa. The Report, Turning a transparency profit in the oil & gas industry: Opportunities and challenges for revenue transparency, will receive its international launch on April 28. It evaluates 42 leading oil and gas companies and their operations in 21 countries on their current policies, management systems and performance in areas relevant to revenue transparency in their upstream operations. Included in the Report are Canadian Nexen, Petro-Canada and Talisman.

For further information visit: www.transparency.ca