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.
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.
Last month Ottawa cancelled two contracts to purchase gloves made by Supermax Corporation in Malaysia, drawing attention once again to slavery risks in Canadian supply chains.
Tens of millions of people around the globe are trapped in forced labour. The Canadian government should take steps to not only warn companies against profiting from the abuse, but prevent them from doing so.
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