Hi Aidan, 

In answer to your two questions, yes. 

Not only does our party support comprehensive mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation, our party actually put this legislation forward in 2022 – Bill C-262.

Not only does our party want to reform the CORE office, our party put forward legislation on the CORE – Bill C-263 – in 2022.

I draw your attention to our press release from 2022: 

NDP tables bills to fight for human and environmental rights
The government must do more to ensure Canadian corporations respect human rights, Indigenous rights and the environment here and abroad

OTTAWA — Today, in response to longstanding calls from activists, civil society, labour organizations in Canada and impacted communities around the world, NDP MPs Peter Julian (New Westminster-Burnaby) and Heather McPherson (Edmonton-Strathcona) tabled legislation to strengthen oversight and enforcement to ensure that Canadian corporations respect human rights and the environment abroad. 

MP McPherson tabled Bill C-263 that would give the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) the necessary powers to investigate human right abuses by Canadian corporations. To help carry out that work, MP Julian tabled Bill C-262 to enshrine in Canadian law tools to hold Canadian corporations accountable for their actions.

“No one should be suffering abuse at the hands of a Canadian company,” said MP McPherson. “Canada lacks an Ombudsperson with teeth and the power to hold Canadian corporations accountable for their actions here and abroad,” said MP McPherson. “Bill C-263 outlines important revisions to the CORE to ensure it has powers to investigate alleged human rights abuses and to compel witnesses and documents. While the CORE has been operational for nearly three years, the Government of Canada has failed to give it the powers that were promised. Canada must live up to its international human rights obligations and stop putting corporate profits ahead of human rights and environmental protection. International reputation is at stake.”

Together, these Private Members Bills aim to install powerful legislative tools for Canada to respond to violations of human rights and dangerous threats to the environment linked to the global operations and supply chains of Canadian companies. Currently, human, labour and environmental rights lack protections. Canada’s federal government should be holding Canadian corporations, their subsidiaries and supply chains to a high standard of corporate social responsibility at home and abroad – and ensure they meet it.

“Despite knowing for decades that Canadian companies and supply chains are contributing to human rights abuse and environmental damage abroad, the Canadian government continues to rely on voluntary measures to encourage responsible business conduct,” said Julian. “Bill C-262 would require companies to identify, prevent and mitigate human rights abuses and provides for liability when companies cause harm in their global operations. The federal government must make abusive actions by Canadians and Canadian corporations illegal here and abroad.”

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Thank you, Aidan, for again contacting the Christian Heritage Party, on behalf of CNCA. 

We are happy to say that our position has not changed one iota. We agree to both of these questions. 

Sincerely

Vicki Gunn

Executive Director

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1. Does your party fully support the adoption of a mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence law?

Yes. The Communist Party of Canada fully supports the adoption of strong, binding due diligence legislation that compels Canadian corporations to detect, prevent, and remedy human rights abuses and environmental harm throughout their global operations, subsidiaries, and supply chains.

We reject voluntary codes of conduct and corporate self-regulation, which have enabled widespread abuse including land theft, murder, forced labour, and ecological destruction—especially by Canadian mining and resource firms. A new law must create legal liability for companies causing harm and guarantee access to justice for affected workers and communities, including in Canadian courts.

Canada has a legal obligations under international law to prevent these violations, and the Communist Party calls for swift action to adopt due diligence legislation modelled on the CNCA’s Corporate Respect for Human Rights and the Environment Abroad Act. We also support international treaties to end corporate impunity and advocate for public ownership of the extractive sector to ensure operations serve human needs, not profit.

2. Will you strengthen the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE)?

Yes. The Communist Party calls for immediate reforms to CORE to make it truly independent, transparent, and effective.

The Party also calls for CORE to coordinate with labour unions, people’s organizations and movements and international bodies to ensure the voices of affected communities are heard and respected.

Canada’s current failure to stop corporate abuses reflects a broader problem of corporate power, allowing the prioritizing profit over human rights, workers’ rights, and ecological sustainability. The Communist Party stands for rolling back corporate power and putting people and the planet before corporate profits.

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Feb092022_CNCA Response to CORE Risk Assessment of Non-Review Based Country Visits

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1. Provide an effective means for victims of corporate abuse relating to Canadian extractive companies operating overseas to seek redress in Canada, including by creating an independent extractive-sector Ombudsman, legislating access to Canadian courts and ensuring respect of the right of Indigenous peoples to free, prior and informed consent;
2. Include mandatory accountability mechanisms, such as the recent commitment by the federal government to institute mandatory disclosure requirements for payments to governments by extractive companies;
3. Include robust and transparent mechanisms that condition Canadian government support received by extractive companies on respect for human rights and environmental sustainability;
4. Ensure that Canadian extractive companies pay their fair share of taxes and royalties (both in Canada and abroad) and include a commitment to combatting the financial secrecy afforded by tax havens, which are used extensively by Canadian extractive companies;
5. Incorporate a real commitment to instituting multi-stakeholder dialogue initiatives on corporate accountability issues and include meaningful opportunities for Canadian civil society organizations and the Canadian public to provide input into Canadian policy on CSR.

To see CNCA’s full submission to the review process, please click here.

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