Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon. My name is Bob Chant. I serve as the senior vice-president of corporate affairs and communication at Loblaw Companies.
Mr. Chair, thank you for the opportunity once again to address the committee in relation to this important matter. I don't need to remind everyone that last week was the anniversary of the tragedy at Rana Plaza, and on behalf of our entire organization, all of our colleagues, I'd like to once again extend sincerest condolences to the victims and the families who were affected by the tragedy. While we do not forget its tragic beginnings, we are proud to have made Loblaw a contributing voice in the response to Rana Plaza and its unfolding legacy related to workplace safety.
We continue to believe that the manufacturing community and overall economy of Bangladesh benefit from our presence, our attention, and our long-term commitment. Over the past 12 months Loblaw has worked with a number of individuals, industry, government, NGOs, and the International Labour Organization to respond to the human tragedy of Rana Plaza and to improve the standards that will define and protect the safety of workers from here forward.
When I addressed this committee last May I shared with you the Loblaw plan of action, and today I'm proud to report on the considerable progress we have made.
In the past year Loblaw has become a lead contributor in the financial response to this tragedy, having committed $5 million for local relief and compensation. That includes over $3.7 million in victim compensation provided to the ILO-led trust fund for long-term compensation to injured workers and the families of deceased workers.
In addition, $1 million is being provided to Save the Children in Bangladesh and the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed for textile workers in Savar. An additional $285,000 was provided in short-term compensation to bridge between the time of the incident and the long-term compensation that has just started to flow in the last couple of weeks.
As I mentioned, Loblaw has publicly committed to maintaining production in Bangladesh while also contributing to improving workplace conditions in the country. The company has made every effort to be a leading voice on this topic, making public commitments and public statements on an issue that many other brands have chosen to avoid.
We also became an early signatory and the only Canadian company committed to membership in the accord for fire and building safety in Bangladesh. The accord is an independent legally binding agreement to make all garment factories in Bangladesh safe workplaces. It includes independent safety inspections at factories and public reporting of the results of these inspections. Where safety issues are identified, retailers commit to ensuring that not only are repairs carried out, but that sufficient funds are made available to make those reparations and that workers at these factories continue to be paid a salary while the improvements are being done.
We have raised the level of our standards and inspections of all factories where our products are sourced. In the summer of 2013 the company audited all the factories in Bangladesh producing our goods, and the information on all factories producing for us was shared with the accord. These standards, as you may recall, did not, prior to Rana Plaza, include building-integrity or building-structure inspections, and they do now.
In addition we are building a team of employees in the region to ensure the rigour of our factory audits and to monitor workplace conditions and local relationships. This team is led by Frank Merkley, a long-time Loblaw supply chain expert from Canada who has relocated to the region. The team's goal is to ensure that goods produced for sale by us are made in an environment that reflects Canadian values.
Now, it may seem easier to simply pull production from Bangladesh. Loblaw believes that the apparel industry can be a force for good. When I've travelled to Bangladesh over the past year, one message that we received loud and clear from day one from every single individual we met was “please don't leave” or “thank you for not withdrawing your production from this country”.
Helping victims and their family members find and hold a job is a critical piece of the recovery process, because jobs in the garment industry do help lift people out of poverty. We are proud to have committed to keeping our apparel production in the country. We believe that properly well-built factories can, indeed, be an agent for economic development and stability in countries like Bangladesh.
While the last year has seen meaningful change, in our view the collective industry response to Rana Plaza has taken too long, and various necessary steps have yet to be taken. Further, based on the initial compensation model that was calculated on a shared basis between government, industry, and brands, Loblaw, as one of the top contributing organizations, is contributing more than its share. However, we do believe that progress is occurring, most notably in the improvement of factory audits, and particularly the related information sharing that's happening within industry. And we are pleased with unprecedented coordination, albeit between a relatively small number of other retailers and our company, to account for the very real human and financial costs of the Rana Plaza collapse.
Loblaw is committed to driving long-term change that will benefit the Bangladeshi people, and in the coming months and years we will continue to work with our industry colleagues to do so.
Thank you very much.