There is a global and international accountability gap when it comes to business and human rights, when it comes to holding companies accountable. Our international framework is based on the obligations of nation-states and doesn't easily apply to corporations. Around the world, host countries where companies are operating sometimes don't have laws that protect human rights or the environment, or those laws aren't enforced vis-à-vis multinational companies.
What is needed is for Canada to take its place in that international accountability triangle to look at holding companies accountable and ensuring that communities have access to remedy here in Canada for the impacts of Canadian companies operating overseas. What is entirely within the Canadian government's authority is to require companies to respect human rights around the world—not simply to expect them to, but to require them to and to create mechanisms that ensure that impacted communities and workers have access to remedy in Canada.