Above Ground and other civil society groups call on the trade minister to appoint a new Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Entreprises (CORE) after the government leaves the post vacant for months.
Above Ground is tracking the details of complaints to the CORE regarding alleged human rights abuses linked to Canadian companies. Here we list cases for which information is publicly known, including those under investigation. We will update the list with new information as it is released.
Writing in the Business and Human Rights Journal, our director Karyn Keenan relates how promises of a robust watchdog to investigate complaints against Canadian multinationals gave way to an office that lacks the powers to do its job.
Today all fourteen civil society and labour union members of the government’s responsible business advisory body resigned, citing an erosion of trust in the government’s commitment to corporate accountability.
Fifteen months ago, the government announced it would create an independent office with the power to investigate abuses by Canadian companies operating abroad. Instead, it unveiled today a powerless advisory post, little different from what has already existed for years.
The Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability is greatly encouraged by the Minister of International Trade’s announcement of the creation of a Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise.
Last month legislators and experts on business and human rights gathered in Ottawa to discuss groundbreaking developments in home state legislative initiatives aimed at protecting human rights from corporate abuse. This article provides a summary of the discussion and comments made by panelists and keynote speakers at the Bringing Responsibility Home symposium.
In a recent report on Honduras, the Office of the Extractive Sector CSR Counsellor makes unsubstantiated accusations about Canadian civil society organizations. We join civil society colleagues in calling for the immediate retraction of the report.
For years, the Canadian government has spoken of its “expectation” that Canadian companies will meet the “highest ethical standards” when operating abroad. It’s time to create a mechanism capable of finding out if this expectation is in fact being met.