Subcommittee on International Human Rights Committee on April 18th, 2013

[Peter Iliopoulos]

Our focus is really on our employees. We recognize that there are issues of corruption and violence in the country. We have always focused our practices to ensure that our employees and communities are protected, and that's been the paramount focus of our company in how we've conducted our operations.

In working with government institutions, we probably believe there is a need for those institutions to be strengthened in Honduras to help them ensure that best practices are implemented in the country.

[Pierre Jacob, NDP, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

Thank you.

If I still have some time, my next question is for Mr. Blackwell.

Do I still have some time, Mr. Chair?

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Wayne Marston]

Two minutes.

[Pierre Jacob, NDP, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

Two minutes. Okay.

I still have a bit of time left.

The Government of Canada has made the Americas a priority on their foreign policy agenda. In your opinion, how could Canada optimally promote human rights in Honduras?

[Adam Blackwell]

That is a good question and there is no easy answer to it. I believe that if we want to help these countries, especially those in Central America, it is essential to focus on creating sound and reliable state institutions. This is a process that will take years. Without these reliable institutions, it would be impossible to resolve the problems of impunity or corruption.

[Pierre Jacob, NDP, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

What action could Canada and the rest of the international community take in order to promote stability in Honduras and avoid a repeat of the events that took place during the coup of 2009?

[Adam Blackwell]

I think the only way to avoid a repeat of what happened in 2009 is to work with the political parties to come to a national consensus. I don't believe that any of the three parties who have a chance of winning the elections next November want anxiety about insecurity, as is the case now.

[Pierre Jacob, NDP, Brome—Missisquoi, QC]

Thank you.

Do I have a minute left? You are telling me that my time is up.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Mr. Blackwell.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Wayne Marston]

We'll go now to Mrs. Grewal.

[Nina Grewal, Conservative, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Thank you, Chair, and thank you very much to our witnesses for your time and your presentations here today.

My question is for Mr. Iliopoulos.

Mr. Iliopoulos, your business has located several plants in Honduras, and the country has become a kind of byword for instability and human rights abuses. It might also affect your ability to do business and, of course, the well-being of all those employees working in your business in Honduras. It is ranked as being one of the most corrupt countries by several prominent organizations. So how does this high level of corruption change how you do business there? How does it affect your ability to expand operations? Has Gildan Activewear ever been the subject of pressure from corruption or insecurity? Could you explain this in detail to the committee.

[Peter Iliopoulos]

Thank you.

We've had successful operations in Honduras dating back to 1997, so we've been in the country for an extremely long period of time. Our positive experiences there have really allowed us to expand our operations to the point we have built up, as I mentioned in my presentation, a $500-million investment, with four textile facilities, two sock manufacturing facilities, and four sewing facilities.

We believe that one of the greatest methods to improve conditions in countries such as Honduras is to develop their economies. That's really what our focus has been. We employ 20,000 people in the country. We're the largest private sector employer in Honduras. We participate actively in the communities in which we operate. Again, we have made a significant investment in our CSR practices, in educating our employees, and in putting forward safety measures for our employees, including awareness campaigns to ensure their public safety in carrying out their day-to-day lives.

The working conditions that we offer—the on-site medical clinics, the subsidized meals, transportation, the overall benefits that we offer them to allow them to earn a living wage that is over and above the industry minimum standards—has made our experience positive. I think that's demonstrated by the rapid increase in the investment we've had in the country since we opened our first facility there in 1997.

[Nina Grewal, Conservative, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

While Honduras nominally subscribes to the International Labour Organization's standards, in many countries they have serious issues with enforcement and implementation. To what extent is the labour standards situation compliant with ILO standards, both at Gildan and other factories in that country?

[Peter Iliopoulos]

We have a very strict code of conduct that's based on ILO principles. We're accredited by the Fair Labor Association, which is a strict NGO that accredits social compliance programs, and based in Washington, D.C. We conduct regular audits, including internal audits, external audits, third-party independent audits, of our social compliance program on a regular basis every year in each of our facilities. That's something that's been, as I said, both from our perspective and third-party perspectives, customers'.... The apparel industry, specifically in Honduras, is really held accountable to a higher standard through the local maquila associations that exist in Honduras through the various brands that source product from Honduras. Our focus, really, is on our strict code of conduct in ensuring that the principles that we stand for and stand behind are paramount and present in each of our operations and facilities.

[Nina Grewal, Conservative, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

Do I have time left?

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Wayne Marston]

You have 45 seconds.

[Nina Grewal, Conservative, Fleetwood—Port Kells, BC]

I'm fine. That's okay.

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Wayne Marston]

We'll go now to Professor Cotler, please, of the Liberal Party.

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I'd like to also welcome the witnesses and put a question, if I may, to Mr. Blackwell.

Mr. Blackwell, this committee was established as the result of the murder of some 74 lawyers in the three years prior to October of 2012, and in the wake of the report of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms. Pillay, who described what she called a situation of “chronic insecurity” in Honduras, which you made reference to as well, that was specifically targeting lawyers, human rights defenders, and journalists.

In February 2013, José Trejo, the brother of human rights lawyer Antonio Trejo Cabrera, who himself was killed in September 2012, was also shot and killed. He had been in the Honduran capital the day before his murder to inquire about his brother's death.

I have several questions related to this. One, do you have any update on the investigation into the death of José Trejo, who was killed looking into the investigation re his brother's death? Secondly, has there been an independent, impartial, and effective investigation into the murder of the 74-plus lawyers who have been killed?

[Adam Blackwell]

Again, that's a very good question. I'm not aware of an update on the February 13 murder, so I will have to get that information.

One of the things that we are doing at the OAS is trying to work with the local authorities. This is why we were so concerned about the Attorney General's office and the various fiscalías, the various sub-Attorneys General, who may not have had the tools or the interest, if you know what I mean, to investigate some of these trials. We see the removal of Attorney General Rubí as a sign that the government and the congress are serious about ensuring that there are clean, clear, crisp investigations of all of these crimes.

Now, as for how to build the institutional capabilities so that the police and the Attorneys General, who have investigative powers in Honduras, have the institutional capability and capacity to do that, this is part of another process of work: of reforming the police and of trying to reform the public ministry and the Attorney General offices so that they have the tools with which to do this work.

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

You're a member of the commission to reform the public security sector. Would that commission have any investigative authority or any oversight with regard, let's say, to the issue of the murder of some 74 lawyers or with regard to the impunity that may have attended their murder?

[Adam Blackwell]

We do have investigative authority. What we are trying to do is to build the institutional capability so that the Hondurans themselves can do those investigations. There is a purge law, a depuración; a law was passed in the congress recently to purge the police. That's a terrible word; I didn't translate very well from Spanish. Essentially, this gives the authority to eliminate corrupt authorities in the police. There's a similar kind of structure to try to remove those who are corrupt, who are inefficient or ineffective, from the judicial sector.

There is a very courageous process under way right now to get at many of these issues of which you speak. It takes time. It does take courage. It takes leadership. We are very hopeful that this news that just yesterday congress acted to remove the Attorney General from power is a very good signal from the government and the political parties, because it took an act of congress, of which the three political parties are members. There was an overwhelming vote of 106 to 14, I think, to do this. I can get the numbers. It's a very, very good sign.

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

I'm not sure—

[The Vice-Chair, NDP, Wayne Marston]

You have five seconds.

[Irwin Cotler, Liberal, Mount Royal, QC]

Okay. In the decision to remove her, was any reference made to the lack of any investigations into the murder of lawyers?

[Adam Blackwell]

Yes, that was one of the factors.