Sure.
I've been hearing a call for a multilateral approach from American government officials for two years, now. I don't know what it is that stops other countries from doing it, except that they're anxious about their relationship with China—their trade relationship, in particular. I hear many countries saying, “We are a small country, relative to China. Therefore, we can't poke the bear.”
Since the U.S. has led on this, I think it's possible to follow their momentum. However, when we think about multilateral strategy, we should also think about the way small and medium enterprises can do the same by following the lead of big enterprises. I don't think we need to say that only large investment firms or companies should be held to the standard of good human rights due diligence.
We know small companies are purchasing directly from Xinjiang. We know small investment firms have their money in those companies. What we need is to see a situation where these larger contenders take that step and do the work and due diligence, and stand up and support the smaller businesses and, if we want to call them “smaller countries”....
I don't like that idea. Countries are countries, and they all have a standing in the UN and other international bodies...to stand up against these kinds of human rights violations. Canada needs to do that, too.