Parliament will soon vote on Bill S-211, a corporate reporting law meant to "fight" forced and child labour in supply chains. Experts who’ve weighed in on the law have said it will do little, if anything, to achieve that aim.
How are Canadian firms responding to reports of forced labour in their supply chains? We asked dozens of companies whose suppliers have faced high-profile allegations of abuse. More than half of them didn’t reply.
Unacceptable working conditions are ubiquitous in many global fisheries, and Canada is falling behind other countries on taking action to end the abuse, write staff from Above Ground and the Centre international de solidarité ouvrière in this Toronto Star op-ed.
Governments in Europe are legally requiring businesses to respect human rights in their supply chains. Instead of following their lead, Canada is expected to adopt a law that will merely require companies to say what they're doing, if anything, to reduce the risk that they're sourcing goods produced by forced labour.
Above Ground has submitted the following brief to the parliamentary committee studying Bill S-211, which would require companies to report on the steps they're taking, if any, to address the risk of forced labour and child labour in their supply chains.
Amidst increasing awareness of Canadian business ties to forced labour overseas, Ottawa is being urged to make better use of legal and policy tools to attack this problem. In this brief, we take stock of Canada's existing legislation and policies related to forced labour in international supply chains, and how they are — or aren't — being enforced.
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