Where’s the labour minister’s law to end corporate abuse?

Canadian companies are implicated in grave human rights abuses in many places around the world. These include killings, forced labour, environmental destruction, sexual violence and abuse of the rights of Indigenous peoples. 

But there’s hope. People across Canada are taking action, urging the government to pass a strong law to finally hold Canadian companies to account. Such a law would require Canadian companies to respect human rights and the environment throughout their operations and supply chains.

The government tasked Minister of Labour Seamus O’Regan with introducing legislation in 2024 to protect human rights in Canadian supply chains. But there’s a serious risk that the government will bow to the corporate lobby and produce weak legislation that falls short of what’s needed, or introduce legislation with no intention of it passing into law.