Subcommittee on International Human Rights Committee on Feb. 23rd, 2021

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

So two years in, we now have a situation where you haven't been able to undertake any investigations to date and you have not been able to expand your mandate. Is that correct?

[Sheri Meyerhoffer]

Mr. Chair, I would like to rephrase the question. We have been in preparation and creation stage. This is very necessary for a brand new office. It's not that we haven't been able to; we realize how important it is to get this right, so we've been taking the time to create it. That's how I would respond to that.

With respect to the number of sectors, again, I think we're open to doing that in the future.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

In your introductory comments, you said that the online portal is ready to be launched. Will that be launched in the next couple of days, next week, next month? How long until we see that become live?

[Sheri Meyerhoffer]

I'm using “in the coming weeks” and I am not going to be giving a particular date. I work within a large organization within the Government of Canada, and we have a number of technical matters that are still being put into place. Our operating procedures are completed, and our consultations are over, but now we have all of those very technical aspects of getting this up and running.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

I've worked in the field quite a lot. I've seen Canadian mining companies and some of the environmental degradation and the human rights abuses that have taken place. One of my concerns is this: Having a portal is one thing, but how exactly are populations around the world learning about the portal where they can share this information?

[Sheri Meyerhoffer]

I'm sorry. Can I hear your question again?

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

I just asked how people around the world who are victims of violence from Canadian mining companies would actually tell you about that. How do they know about the online portal that has not been launched but will soon, within weeks, be launched?

[Sheri Meyerhoffer]

We're well aware of the need to communicate the role and purpose of our office and the ways in which people can communicate to us. We're spreading the word and raising awareness through various channels. We have—

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

What are those various channels?

[Sheri Meyerhoffer]

We have the co-operation of government in spreading the word overseas, and we're planning to raise awareness through our many stakeholders. We would be doing that through civil society organizations working overseas, trade commissions overseas, United Nations networks overseas, our international partners and other networks.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Thank you.

One of the things you talked about was the idea of.... I know that in 2018, when the ombudsperson was announced, it was announced to great fanfare within the sector. Many of us were extremely excited, because we were told that you would have the ability to compel testimony. That did not end up happening. You do not have the ability to compel testimony.

What is the plan for when you investigate a company and it is not co-operative or interested in sharing its testimony or evidence with you? What will your next step be in that case?

[Sheri Meyerhoffer]

It's true that the CORE doesn't currently have the power to compel witnesses or documents, but our review powers are unique and a strength in Canada's responsible business conduct mechanisms. We have, as I said before, a range of tools at our disposal, and we can initiate reviews and conduct investigations. If a company—

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

If they won't share their information, how do you do that?

[Sheri Meyerhoffer]

There are other ways of getting information, and we will be conducting investigations. We will be gathering information from all sources. If they don't co-operate, it's to their detriment because we will be coming to a finding of fact based on the information that we collect.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Can you explain to me how this is different from what we've had in previous governments? We had a corporate social responsibility counsellor. We have the NCP. How is this different? What can you do that previous governments couldn't do?

[Sheri Meyerhoffer]

The CSR counsellor was embedded within the Department of Global Affairs and International Trade. There was a counsellor and, I believe, one other employee. We have a much larger human resources foundation. We are an ombudsperson office, and an ombudsperson office carries with it a number of internationally recognized attributes, one being that it's arm's length and independent from the department. We have that.

The NCP does mediation. However, not only can we engage in mediation, but we can undertake collaborative and independent fact-finding. We're required to file public reports. Under our mandate, we have to file reports.

We're also empowered to make recommendations to the minister regarding potential remedial measures. Remedial measures are what is under our order in council under the UN guiding principles on business and human rights. We are guided by that. The NCP is under the OECD guidelines for multinational enterprises. We have the additional...with the remedial.

There is a lot more breadth there than what we've seen under the CSR counsellor or under the NCP.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Would you say that you're an independent—

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

That's your time, Ms. McPherson. Thank you.

[Heather McPherson, NDP, Edmonton Strathcona, AB]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

Colleagues, we're going to be moving into a second round. It's going to be a strict two minutes for each member to ask questions before we move on to the next panel.

We're going to start with Ms. Vandenbeld, from the Liberals, for two minutes.

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

Thank you very much.

I want to thank you, Ms. Meyerhoffer, for being here today.

Ten years ago, I was working in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I was working with women's groups there who were working on a declaration about sexual violence in DRC. All of the women pointed to the mining sectors as the root cause—whether it was directly or indirectly—because of the armed conflicts over resource-rich lands.

When you begin to do your intake with your online portal, and also in the advice you give to companies, how do you anticipate that what you're doing is going to be different from what would have been available back in 2011? This is in terms of when abuses are occurring by Canadian companies directly, and also in terms of helping Canadian companies see the warning signs and be able to do the prevention needed to make sure that their activities don't result in indirect human rights abuses.

[Sheri Meyerhoffer]

We do have a lot of tools at our disposal. Half of them are preventative. That's the advice to companies. We have already been giving advice to companies on COVID and things to watch out for, like the dos and the don'ts of this. We'll be able to do those kinds of things with respect to conflict areas going forward. That's the preventative side.

Then there's working with them on mediation to help them if something is bubbling up. If nothing has happened, that's early intervention. Then there is helping them resolve an issue once it has started.

All of that is available.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

You have about 20 seconds, unless you want to make a statement.

[Anita Vandenbeld, Liberal, Ottawa West—Nepean, ON]

That's okay.

[The Chair, Liberal, Peter Fonseca]

We're going to move over to the Conservatives and Mr. Reid, for two minutes.