Evidence of meeting #76 for Subcommittee on International Human Rights in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was employees.
A recording is available from Parliament.
NDP
Pierre Jacob NDP Brome—Missisquoi, QC
You say that you are doing audits and that some independent organizations carry out audits. Could you tell us the names of these organizations?
Senior Vice-President, Public and Corporate Affairs, Head Office, Gildan Activewear Inc.
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 NGOs that we deal with as well, and the Worker Rights Consortium has conducted audits of our facilities and reviewed the labour conditions.
We are very open to all of this and work very practically with each of these organizations to ensure the highest level of standards are met and respected.
Conservative
David Sweet Conservative Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON
Yes, just briefly, Chair, I wanted to ask Mr. Iliopoulos exactly what the free trade agreement between Canada and Honduras would mean to Gildan.
But I notice that Mr. Blackwell had a comment regarding Mr. Schellenberger's last question on the rule of law and the free trade agreement. If you would like, please make that comment.
Ambassador, Secretariat for Multidimensional Security, Organization of American States (OAS)
Having worked to help negotiate free trade agreements, I was going to say that it's not just about trade. There are many components of these agreements that help establish the rule of law and level playing fields, including common standards, such as FIPAs, foreign investment protection agreements, for example, which are fundamentally important in establishing the rule of law. I think trade is just the tip of an iceberg in a free trade agreement.
Conservative
David Sweet Conservative Ancaster—Dundas—Flamborough—Westdale, ON
If the agreement were in place, Mr. Iliopoulos, what would that mean exactly to Gildan?
Senior Vice-President, Public and Corporate Affairs, Head Office, Gildan Activewear Inc.
It would allow us to compete more effectively in our home market here in Canada. The biggest threat that we see is imports from Asia, from countries that might not necessarily have, for example, the same strict social compliance standards that we employ.
A free trade agreement between Canada and Honduras will allow us to compete more effectively against Asian imports and our primary competition, meaning companies in the United States. We're the only Canadian company in this market, and this, in addition to developing the economy in Honduras, as I mentioned earlier, would also allow us to compete more effectively in our home country.
Conservative
NDP
The Vice-Chair NDP Wayne Marston
Thank you, Mr. Sweet.
I want to thank our guests for their testimony. This concludes the time we have—in fact, we're a couple of minutes over—but again, thank you for coming and offering us your perspectives. It was very interesting.
We are adjourned.