OttawaB次元官网网址檚 corporate-ethics watchdog has announced investigations into a gold-mining corporation and the Canadian branch of Nike over the possible use of forced labour by ChinaB次元官网网址檚 Uyghur minority in their supply chains.
B次元官网网址淭hese are very serious issues that have been brought to our attention,B次元官网网址� Sheri Meyerhoffer, who is the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise, told reporters Tuesday.
B次元官网网址淐anadian companies are expected to respect Canadian standards for human rights and environmental protection when they work outside of Canada.B次元官网网址�
The probes are the first investigations her office has launched since it was created by the Liberals in 2018.
The announcement followssustained criticism by advocates, MPs and Meyerhoffer herself that Prime Minister Justin TrudeauB次元官网网址檚 government did not give the ombudsperson enough teeth to hold companies to account.
In one assessment report, Meyerhoffer accuses Nike Canada Corp. of not sufficiently answering claims that it is sourcing products created through slave labour.
Her report says Nike rejected initial mediation, arguing its global parent company had already disproven allegations by the publicly funded Australian Strategic Policy Institute about specific suppliers with whom Nike says it no longer has ties.
Meyerhoffer said Nike hasnB次元官网网址檛 weeded out the possibility that it has bought components through a supplier in Vietnam that could be using cotton originating downstream from slave labour in ChinaB次元官网网址檚 Xinjiang region.
B次元官网网址淭he complex nature of garment supply chains may warrant investigation,B次元官网网址� MeyerhofferB次元官网网址檚 report argues, particularly because Nike B次元官网网址渉as provided limited detail about the nature and scopeB次元官网网址� of its traceability protocols, such as how it tracks the origin of fibres used in its products.
MeyerhofferB次元官网网址檚 other report accuses Dynasty Gold Corp. of allowing forced labour to occur at its gold mine in the Hatu district bordering Kazakhstan, close to what China has called B次元官网网址渄etentionB次元官网网址� centres or B次元官网网址渞e-educationB次元官网网址� camps.
China insists those centres are meant to weed out Islamic radicalization after several deadly domestic attacks.
But the United Nations found in mid-2022 that China had committed B次元官网网址渟erious human rights violationsB次元官网网址� against Uyghurs and other Muslim communities that B次元官网网址渕ay constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity.B次元官网网址�
MeyerhofferB次元官网网址檚 report says that after months of attempts by her office to contact someone at the Vancouver-based company, the firm eventually argued that it does not have control over that mine.
But Meyerhoffer noted this is contradicted by statements in corporate documents and press releases.
The firm B次元官网网址渁ppears to have deliberately avoided participating in and co-operating with the (officeB次元官网网址檚) dispute resolution process without providing any explanation,B次元官网网址� the report reads.
The two probes stem from complaints brought by a coalition of two dozen human-rights groups, which Meyerhoffer said had also been open to an outcome in which their complaints were resolved without the companies being named publicly.
The Canadian Press has reached out to both companies and the Chinese embassy in Ottawa for comment.
Meyerhoffer said she plans to publish 11 more reports in the coming weeks on cases involving Uyghur people.
B次元官网网址淭his is a warning sign for the government of Canada, Canadian corporations and also the Canadian public to exercise due diligence of what theyB次元官网网址檙e purchasing,B次元官网网址� said Mehmet Tohti, head of the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project.
The group was part of the coalition that filed the complaints.
Tohti says cotton and tomato goods from China may be products of Uyghur slave labour, and he has criticizedOttawa for barely seizing any shipments of goods produced through forced labour.Opposition parties have noted the U.S. seized hundreds of shipments.
B次元官网网址淚n Canada, we became a dumping ground because we allowed all products made by the use of Uyghur forced labour,B次元官网网址� Tohti said, adding that Meyerhoffer is probing B次元官网网址渁 major Canadian companyB次元官网网址� as part of the 11 reports she is drafting.
If the office finds any company responsible for forced labour, Meyerhoffer can recommend that Ottawa withdraw existing trade services, bar the firm from receiving government funds or have border guards seize imports.
B次元官网网址淭he greatest power that the (office) has is to shine a light on situations involving human rights that would not otherwise come to the attention of the Canadian public or the Canadian government,B次元官网网址� she said.
The ombudsperson has also been assessing for months whether to investigate alleged violations of the right to a living wage for workers at Canadian-controlled garment factories in Bangladesh, and the right of assembly for garment workers in Honduras.
The Liberals promised to create the ombudsperson role in the 2015 campaign, replacing a post Stephen HarperB次元官网网址檚 Conservative government created in 2009 that was restricted to advising the extractive sector and monitoring its corporate policies.
They enacted the new office in 2018, allowing it to probe garment industries as well as the mining,oil and gas sectors.
Meyerhoffer, a lawyer whose career focused on international development as well as AlbertaB次元官网网址檚 oil sector, was appointed a year later. But she only started accepting complaints in 2021 and had not launched any formal investigations until Tuesday.
The office has long faced a debate over how much power Meyerhoffer needs to do more rigorous work.
Advocacy groups such as the Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability have long called for the legal right to compel documents and witnesses from companies, as has an external legal review commissioned by Ottawa.
Meyerhoffer herself told media in November 2019 that sheB次元官网网址檇 be asking the Liberals for such powers, and said the inability to compel companies left people fearing retribution if they filed complaints with her office.She was tight-lipped Tuesday as to whether the Trudeau government had responded to her requests.
NDP foreign-affairs critic Heather McPherson has tabled a bill to give the office such powers and compel businesses to better track their supply chains.
B次元官网网址淚mpacted communities and civil society groups do not trust the (office) to represent their interests adequately without these powers,B次元官网网址� McPherson said in a statement.
B次元官网网址淭he Liberal government broke their promises. and has refused to give the office the tools to act with the urgency these complaints need, or introduce any legislation to hold companies accountable.B次元官网网址�
MeyerhofferB次元官网网址檚 office monitors the roles of any entity controlled by a Canadian firm directly or indirectly, which includes foreign suppliers and contractors who only work for a company based in Canada.
It has conducted reviews of issues abroad, such as an analysis of 10 Canadian garment companies operating outside the country. It found few tracked supply chains well enough to detect child labour, since many only monitor their systems in steps that follow the production of raw materials.
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