What’s at stake?
Canadian companies and companies importing goods into Canada are implicated in serious human rights abuses and environmental damage around the globe. These abuses include killings, sexual violence, water contamination, land grabs, poverty wages, and forced labour.
Many other countries are passing strong laws to stop corporate abuse, but Canada is dragging its feet. But there’s hope. A Private member’s bill tabled in March 2022 could help protect people and the planet from corporate abuse– if it gets enough support. Corporate capture is a powerful force, and we’ll need to send a loud and clear message that Canadians demand an end to these violations.
Want to help spur on action in Canada? Speak up!
Let decision-makers know we need a law to make human rights and accountability non-negotiable for Canadian companies.
What are we calling for?
We’re calling for a law that requires Canadian companies and companies importing goods into Canada to respect human rights and the environment throughout their operations and supply chains. This law would require companies to take stock of how they may be contributing to human rights and environmental abuses, fix any problems they find, and do everything in their power to prevent future harm. If a company fails to do any of these things, this law gives people negatively impacted by the company’s actions the power to seek justice in Canadian courts.
Proposals like this are sometimes referred to as “Mandatory Human Rights and Environmental Due Diligence” (mHREDD) laws. What it boils down to: human rights and accountability are non-negotiable.
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Momentum is building
Over 60 Canadian and international civil society organizations, labour unions and investor groups; 150 organizations and labour unions working with directly affected people in 32 countries; and 100 academics and legal professionals are calling on Canada to adopt mHREDD legislation.
Take action NOW!
A game-changing law has been tabled in Canada’s parliament. This law would require companies to respect human rights and the environment in all their business activities and relationships overseas. Now is a critical moment for Canadians to speak up and demand that Canada adopt this law.
To have any hope of countering the corporate lobby, we need to show that a critical mass of Canadians demand our government take serious action. It is long past time to put people and the planet first.
Help make the case: human rights and accountability are non-negotiable.
Take action today– send an email to your MP! It takes less than a minute to add your voice to the groundswell.
Looking for more ways to take action? You can amplify your voice by:
- Signing our online petition
- Meeting with your MP
- Getting active on social media using the campaign hashtags: #dobizright #getaccountable
- Supporting our other call for corporate accountability in Canada: an ombudsperson with the power to investigate human rights abuses by Canadian companies
