Thank you, Chair, and thank you, colleagues.
One of my colleagues talked about mandate letters. Going back to 2021, our own international trade minister's mandate letter says:
To ensure that a whole-of-government approach is taken, support the Minister of Labour in introducing legislation to eradicate forced labour from Canadian supply chains and ensure that Canadian businesses operating abroad do not contribute to human rights abuses.
That was in 2021.
Our committee, based on the government's budget of 2023, saying that it would introduce legislation in a year, wrote to them in November of last year. It's been a whole year, and the government has yet to proceed. They've had sufficient time to act on this.
I'm pleased to support my colleague's motion.
I want to make one friendly amendment. I think it's just in terms of wording in the translation. It would have to do with the last paragraph. I'll read what my change is.
It says, “That the committee report back to the House to express that recourse to these practices, which undermine the fundamental rights of workers, vulnerable people and children....” Instead of the word “inadmissible”, which I think is incorrect, I think it should read, “is totally unacceptable, and that it finds the government's inaction deplorable.”