Corporate Social Responsibility Performance and Transparency in Canada’s Natural Resource Sector

This study assesses levels of corporate social responsibility and transparency in reporting within Canada’s natural resources sector. The annual reports of the top listed companies (by market capitalization) on the Toronto Stock Exchange are examined for select sustainability key performance indicators. In all, the annual reports of 49 mining companies, 25 oil and gas companies, and 20 utilities and pipeline companies were examined to extract information on: labour; finance; social investment; environment; and, corporate governance. Despite the Government of Canada’s introduction of a Federal Sustainable Development Strategy, the country is still dependent on natural resource extraction and export for its economic prosperity. Therefore, it is important to understand the broader impact of these operations—as well as the level of transparency these companies are providing to the Canadian public. This research strives to answer four questions concerning the sustainability performance and transparency of major Canadian companies: 1. Are companies operating in Canada’s natural resources sector providing an acceptable degree of transparency to the public? 2. What policy recommendations can be adopted to ensure greater transparency in operations? 3. What are the major areas of concern in CSR performance? 4. Are companies within the natural resources sector aligning with best CSR practices? Data collection and analysis reveals a significant lack of reporting on select key performance indicators, as well as considerably poor sustainability performance in some measures—a deviance that is considered outside of the values signaled by the Government of Canada

Microplate analytical method for quinones by pulse photo-irradiation and chemiluminescence detection

Quinones are widely distributed in nature and have various bioactivities. Besides, quinones are also considered as toxicological intermediates which cause severe dangerous effects. Hereby, a sensitive, simple, and rapid method is reported for quinones determination. The proposed method employed time resolved fluorescence (TRF) microplate reader based chemiluminescent (CL) detection for the first time as a novel approach for measurement. Under pulse photo-irradiation, the unique photochemical characteristic of quinones is exploited to liberate reactive oxygen species (ROS) which reacted with photosensitized CL reagent. L-012, luminol analogue, was selected for its high sensitivity. Under our investigation, para-quinones showed high CL response when compared to ortho-quinones. A linear response was obtained for studied quinone concentrations in the range of 0.05-50 μM for 1,4-naphthquinone and of 0.05-150 μM for 2-methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone (menadione) and 9,10-anthraquinone with detection limit (blank + 3SD) of 0.01 μM. The proposed method allowed the rapid determination of large number of samples in very short time (96 sample/125 s). The proposed method was successfully applied for determination of menadione in spiked human serum

From Responsibility to Requirement: COVID, Cars, and the Future of Corporate Social Responsibility in Canada

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant impacts to the automotive manufacturing industry. Despite substantial financial uncertainty, disruptions to supply chains, and shutdowns of manufacturing operations, automotive firms supported crisis response efforts throughout the course of the pandemic. Drawing on interviews with all the consumer automotive manufacturing companies in Canada (Ford, General Motors, Honda, Stellantis, and Toyota) as well as the two largest global automotive parts suppliers operating in Canada (Linamar and Magna), we investigated whether voluntary corporate responses to COVID-19 will shape long-term corporate social responsibility programs or simply constitute one-off crisis management actions. Ultimately, we argue that while Canada’s pandemic response efforts have benefitted from the voluntary involvement of automotive manufacturing companies, the limited coordination between stakeholders underscores the need for greater public sector oversight of the relationship between society and the private sector. To ensure preparedness for meeting new challenges, such as climate change, we call for the era of voluntary corporate social responsibility programs to yield to a period of corporate social requirements

A New Pyrrole Synthesis via Silver(I)-Catalyzed Cycloaddition of Vinylogous Diazoester and Nitrile

A new synthesis of di- and trisubstituted pyrroles was achieved by treating in situ generated vinylogous diazoesters and readily available nitriles with a catalytic amount of silver(I) antimony hexafluoride at room temperature. This method showcased the potential of utilizing silver(I) carbenoids in preparing heterocyclic compounds