The Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability (CNCA) invited all registered federal political parties to outline their commitments on corporate accountability aimed at ensuring Canadian companies respect human rights, labour rights, and the environment in their global operations and supply chains.
We asked:
- Will your party support comprehensive mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation?
- Will you make the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) independent, provide it with the power to compel documents and testimony, and ensure the office is well-resourced so it can effectively investigate human rights abuse allegations linked to Canadian corporations operating overseas?
We received replies from five federal parties. We did not receive a response from the Liberal Party or the Conservative Party.
The Bloc Quebecois, Green Party, NDP, Christian Heritage Party, and Communist Party expressed their support for comprehensive mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence (mHREDD) legislation and for empowering the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise.
The Conservative Party’s 2025 platform commits to “stop forced and child labour with strict new minimum penalties for executives or board members of companies that exploit children and abuse workers for profit, and create a private right of action against goods made with forced and child labour that are sold in Canada.”
The Liberal Party’s 2025 platform does not contain specific commitments on measures to ensure Canadian companies respect human rights when operating abroad.
Here are the full responses we received:
- Bloc Quebecois – Response to 2025 federal election questionnaire [In French only]
- Green Party – Response to 2025 federal election questionnaire
- NDP – Response to 2025 federal election questionnaire
- Christian Heritage Party – Response to 2025 federal election questionnaire
- Communist Party – Response to 2025 federal election questionnaire
