August 25, 2008

Deaths of SNC-Lavalin workers in Algeria highlight risks of overseas operations

MONTREAL

The deaths of a dozen SNC-Lavalin Algerian employees in a North African bus bombing point to the increasing risk that Canadian companies face as they expand their international operations in war-torn or politically troubled regions.

Canada’s biggest engineering firm has operated for decades without incident in some of the world’s riskiest countries in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and South America.

“This is the first time we have ever in 40 years working around the world been the victims of a terrorist attack, so this is new territory for us,” company spokeswoman Gillian MacCormack said in an interview.

The Montreal-based company will review the risk assessment plans in place at each of its projects to ensure the ongoing safety of its thousands of employees around the world, including 2,000 in Algeria.

SNC Lavalin works in many global hot spots, but has stayed away from Colombia, Sudan and Iraq. Myanmar is avoided at the request of the Canadian government.

MacCormack declined to say if SNC will scale back its Algerian projects in the aftermath of the tragic incident.

“If you ask me are we going to move out of Algeria, well no, because we are an Algerian company,” she said. “We have been there for over 30 years and we’re firmly implanted.”

SNC-Lavalin is not the only well-known Canadian company operating in Algeria, a country where extremists have resorted to bombings and violence.

First Calgary Petroleums has been advancing a major natural gas development project in Algeria for years in partnership with the Algerian government.

Canadian companies face the growing risk of being targeted as terrorists seek softer targets as alternatives to more fortified operations of American and British interests, said Louis Laframboise, senior managing director for consulting and investigation at Garda World Security Corp.

“Canada may be obliged to follow, whether we like it or not, because if we don’t get our act together and get security up in those places we become targets.”

The troubled history of the North African country over the last two to three years suggests, Laframboise said, that the attack likely wasn’t in response to Canadian government policies, particularly the military mission in Afghanistan.

But Canadians can no longer be lulled into believing that their history as peacekeepers will protect them from incidents — either terrorist or general criminality, he added.

Canadian Press

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