STEPHEN HARPER, Canada’s prime minister, made a splash on the eve of this week’s G8 summit of large industrialised economies. His government, he announced on June 12th, would make it mandatory for resource companies to disclose payments to governments, both domestic and foreign. This fits nicely with the push by David Cameron, the host of the annual gathering, to put transparency at the top of the agenda. And it complements moves by the United States, which is poised to enforce such a rule, and the European Union, where the European Parliament voted the same day to follow suit. But between Mr Harper’s announcement and the implementation of the new rule lies a long path littered with obstacles that will certainly delay, if not block, the intended result. Given that Canada is a significant player in mining finance—in 2011 almost 40% of equity in global mining firms was raised on the Toronto exchanges, which currently host 1,663 mining firms—this is of more than academic interest beyond Canadian borders.

Unlike in America, where Congress passed the Dodd-Frank act in 2010 that required the Securities and Exchange Commission to write disclosure rules, Canada does not have a national securities regulator. It boasts 13 separate ones (ten provincial, three territorial), some of which guard their jurisdiction jealously. Attempts by Jim Flaherty, the finance minister, to set up a national agency have failed. As Mr Harper noted in his announcement, the federal government will now have to consult with provincial and territorial governments, aboriginal groups, industry and civil society. Even if all goes swimmingly, these consultations will take time.

But not all parts of Canada’s resource industry seem to be willing to play ball. The mining sector is not the problem. For the past nine months its two main industry groups, the Mining Association of Canada and the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada, have been working with two advocacy groups, Publish What You Pay Canada and the Revenue Watch Institute, to figure out how the country could meet a global transparency standard. They published draft recommendations on June 14th.

Yet the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), another industry group, did not join that initiative, citing different interests than the mining sector. In particular, the association is wary of making transparency mandatory on a project basis. That opinion is not shared by all its members, however. Talisman Energy, Canada’s eighth largest oil and gas firm by market capitalisation, recently signed a letter calling for Canada to implement an even stricter disclosure standard than demanded under the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative. The CAPP says that it will await the consultations before deciding. Canada may be in for a repeat of what happened in America where lobbyists for the energy industry tried unsuccessfully to water down the Dodd-Frank reforms.

Even if federal government successfully negotiates these obstacles, there remains another big one: First Nations and other aboriginal groups with land claims. Some argue that these are governments and payments to them should also be disclosed. As resource development moves further north in Canada, more firms are dealing aboriginal groups that have rights to the land.

The press release accompanying Mr Harper’s announcement remained vague. “It is anticipated,” it said, “that the reporting regime will seek to enhance transparency and accountability around material payments by extractive companies to all levels of governments domestically and internationally, including taxes, license fees and other receipts.” A wise wording, considering the obstacles that lie ahead.