Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the opportunity to speak today with the subcommittee on the work of Global Affairs Canada to address the issue of forced and child labour in global supply chains.
My remarks today will outline our department's approach on corporate social responsibility, or SCR, writ large, and provide a summary of our international assistance programs and multilateral engagement efforts. My fellow colleagues present today can answer specific questions on certain of these details.
These hearings have provided an opportunity for us to outline the Government of Canada's strong commitment to responsible business conduct, ethical public procurement, and the application of the International Labour Organization's fundamental principles and rights at work.
Canada recognizes that the participation in global supply chains is a key determinant of success for Canadian business in many industries, and thus is an important potential source of sustainable economic growth and job creation. However, it’s also clear that poor working conditions exist within some global supply chains, including the use of child and forced labour.
As a key interlocutor with business through the trade commissioner service, we see a specific opportunity to address these issues through Canada's corporate social responsibility strategy. Recognized worldwide as a strong stance on responsible business operations abroad, the strategy articulates Canada's expectations for our extractive sector operations abroad—although the principles could be applied to other sectors—and specifically, engagement to promote internationally recognized guidelines, foster networks to convene key stakeholders on CSR issues, strengthen the environment for responsible business and anti-corruption measures, and provide effective and easily accessible dispute resolution mechanisms.
Promotion is underpinned by a government expectation that all Canadian corporate activities abroad respect human rights and all applicable laws to operate transparently and in consultation with host governments and local communities, and to work in a socially and environmentally responsible manner. By encouraging companies to adopt guidelines outlined in the CSR strategy, there is further expectation that companies will take voluntary measures that may be more stringent than the laws of countries in which they operate, specifically on children's rights and child labour impacts. This includes the expectation that companies align their internal policies and operations with internationally recognized CSR standards such as the OECD guidelines for multinational enterprises, the UN guiding principles on business and human rights, and the UN's children's rights and business principles.
Among other things, these standards encourage companies to respect all human and labour rights enshrined in the international bill of rights and the ILO fundamental conventions and to perform early-stage due diligence impact assessments of their operations on human rights and labour conditions of the workers and the communities affected. These standards apply to Canadian businesses wherever they operate, and companies are expected to be aware of the practices inherent in their supply chains, with both their suppliers and subcontractors.
We do not consider that a business's commitment to respect human rights and eliminate child labour in their supply chains is limited to a checklist to tick off or to a supplier code of conduct. Companies have an incredible opportunity to use the leverage of their business relationships to engage with their suppliers, raise awareness, provide training, and improve their suppliers' operations, as well as to gain a better understanding of their own business model.
With respect to our work to foster networks and strengthen the overall environment for responsible business conduct, we have been active in supporting the OECD to develop and disseminate a series of supply-chain due diligence guidance materials for the financial, mineral, garment, and footwear sectors to provide each respective industry with tools for the practical application of the OECD recommendations. This includes specific guidance dedicated to addressing and preventing child labour.
Canada's engagement on CSR with extractive industries is proving successful, as the industry itself is stepping up its voluntary business practices. For instance, the Mining Association of Canada has recently incorporated into its sustainability framework measures to prevent the use of child and forced labour in the mining supply chain, in line with relevant ILO conventions. This framework, known as “Towards Sustainable Mining”, is unique in the world and has established itself as a best-in-class CSR standard for the mining industry. It is mandatory for all MAC members.
While we rely on these best practices to prevent problems, we know that allegations arise, and Minister Champagne has been clear that we want to know about them. Canada offers two dispute resolution mechanisms. The CSR counsellor for the extractive sector facilitates early intervention and advice to avoid impacts before they escalate, and Canada's national contact point for the OECD guidelines for multinational enterprises provides a multi-sectoral, accessible platform for dialogue and resolution between parties seeking solutions that may include changed or improved practices, compensation, and apology.
Please allow me to broaden the lens beyond the CSR strategy at Global Affairs Canada.
It's recognized that, except for a few entities, most Canadian retailing companies in the food and garment industries—two of the most at-risk sectors for forced and child labour—import their goods from foreign suppliers established in developing countries. These companies and their suppliers largely fall outside the mandate of the Global Affairs' trade commissioner service to promote Canadian exports and to attract inward investment to Canada. As indicated by my colleague from ESDC, our multilateral engagement and trade co-operation are also contributing to efforts to eliminate child labour in supply chains, and efforts are deployed through our international development assistance programs as well.
Global Affairs is currently supporting a number of international assistance projects working towards the elimination of child labour. These projects are focusing on applying best practices and helping governments, donors, private sector, and civil society actors to understand the root causes of exploitative child labour and to help eliminate the abhorrent practice.
Most significantly, Canada has invested billions of dollars in support of development projects and humanitarian assistance to refugees, which, while not officially labelled as child labour initiatives, have contributed to countering some of the conditions that create an enabling environment for economic exploitation. These projects have supported millions of women, men, and children, by providing decent work and livelihood opportunities, food security, better access to finance, education, vocational training, and health care, all of which contribute to keep children, in particular girls, out of and far away from child labour.
Moving forward under the feminist international assistance policy, Global Affairs Canada will place a greater focus on ending all forms of violence, especially gender-based violence against girls and boys. This includes preventing and protecting children from the worst forms of child labour as well as countering human trafficking, a criminal activity that fuels forced and child labour.
Canada was among the first countries to ratify the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children. In addition to our domestic efforts, we continue to provide assistance to international partners, working with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and other organizations, including the International Organization for Migration and INTERPOL, to provide technical assistance and capacity building to enable countries to successfully address the crime of trafficking a person.
Addressing child labour in global supply chains is, however, a complex endeavour that goes much beyond promoting CSR standards for Canadian enterprises operating abroad, advocating for policy changes in foreign capitals, or providing development assistance. Our international efforts need to be complemented by domestic interventions with and led by companies, civil society organizations, consumers, and investors, along with governments at all levels. With our colleagues in the interdepartmental group on supply chains, we are following with great interest the development of supply chain transparency and due diligence legislation in several foreign jurisdictions to better understand how such measures could complement our current approach to eliminate child labour.
Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak today.