Foreign Affairs committee  From our perspective, certainly with respect to our operations in terms of where we manufacture, be it in Bangladesh or Honduras or Dominican Republic, we ensure that our strict standards and our strict code of conduct—

Foreign Affairs committee  Again, we're saying there's a role not simply on the part of government; there's a role for.... As you mentioned, there are a number of actors. We think there's a proactive role that the Canadian government can play as one of the actors. Ultimately, we're a manufacturer in Bangl

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, that's correct.

Foreign Affairs committee  We originally started back in 1984 when we had textile manufacturing operations and sewing facilities in Canada. Starting in the 1990s, we started production simultaneously in Central America and the Caribbean basin. Our last operations in Canada were closed in 2007, primarily du

Foreign Affairs committee  Again, I don't have the specific numbers, but we do provide wages significantly above the minimum wage and benefits over and above that.

Foreign Affairs committee  It's our own owned manufacturing—

Foreign Affairs committee  We typically develop our supply chain around our own owned manufacturing. We have direct control over their operations and it allows us to implement the highest level of standards, so we're not in a situation where we're dealing with sourcing goods from another manufacturer. From

Foreign Affairs committee  We pay our employees...when you look at the benefit.... First of all, we pay them significantly above the industry minimum wage—

Foreign Affairs committee  As a percentage it could range anywhere from 10% to 30%. Over and above that, we—

Foreign Affairs committee  It's above the industry minimum wage. Over and above that, we will provide benefits to these employees. We have on-site medical and clinic staff, with doctors and nurses who operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so if there's a problem they're serviced on site—

Foreign Affairs committee  When we acquired the facility in Bangladesh in 2010, as part of the due diligence process that we went through before closing the acquisition, we hired a very reputable U.S. based.... We did an extensive search and review to ensure that we had a very reputable engineering firm ba

Foreign Affairs committee  I definitely think there is a role the Canadian government can play. Again, I go back to the example that I referenced. Bangladesh is the second largest exporter into Canada, and just by virtue of that, there's a responsibility that we should take forward to ensure that the produ

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, governments should most definitely be playing a very proactive role in leveraging ILO principles. For example, there is also the Better Work program, which the ILO is a part of, that exists currently in Haiti. That could be something that they could look at implementing, but

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Let me begin by expressing my sincere gratitude for the invitation to appear today. We have tremendous respect for the work of your committee. In particular, we are excited about contributing to your examination of the corporate practices of companies manuf

Subcommittee on International Human Rights committee  The Fair Labor Association would be one. As an accredited member, our facilities are subject to regular audits by the Fair Labor Association. Every year we certify our facilities with WRAP, Worldwide Responsible Apparel Production, so they will conduct a regular audit. There are