Thank you, Madam Chair.
Minister, I've spoken to many of my constituents who are concerned about the need for a comprehensive mandatory human rights due diligence law to compel businesses to respect human rights standards in their global operations and supply chains. There are documented examples that link Canadian mining, energy and garment industries, and other industries and their suppliers, to human rights abuses and environmental damage around the world.
The Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise, the CORE, currently lacks the power to compel testimony or the submission of documents, so they can't effectively investigate allegations of human rights abuses linked to Canadian companies. Voluntary measures have really proven ineffective in preventing these kinds of human rights abuses and environmental destruction. I'm curious where you stand, as minister, on empowering the Office of the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise with the independence and the power to investigate human rights abuses and allegations and on enacting the kind of comprehensive human rights due diligence law that would compel businesses to respect international human rights standards.