OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - March 22, 2017) - The Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability (CNCA) is concerned and disappointed that the 2017 federal budget failed to announce the creation of a human rights ombudsperson for the extractive sector.
Communities, workers, and indigenous peoples outside of Canada whose human rights are impacted by Canadian extractive companies have few options to have their voices heard and their problems remedied. They continue to wait for the Canadian government to address the international corporate accountability gap and to advance human rights around the globe.
"The Government of Canada has said it shares the goal of ensuring that Canadian extractive companies respect the rights of all people, no matter where they operate", said Moderator Jordan Cantwell of the United Church of Canada. "What we don't know is why we haven't yet seen concrete action when a ready-to-go proposal for a human rights ombudsperson has been handed to them."
"Well-documented, credible allegations of serious human rights abuses associated with Canadian mining, oil and gas companies are widespread and ongoing," said Alex Neve of Amnesty International Canada. "People are being harmed and the international community is waiting for Canada to take meaningful action. We can wait no longer."
"The CNCA calls on the Government of Canada to use our model legislation, which mirrors the structure of other Canadian Ombudspersons, to develop an effective extractive sector Ombudsperson," said Hassan Yussuff of the Canadian Labour Congress. "To be effective the office must be independent, have legally mandated investigatory powers, publicly report on recommendations, remedy, and follow-up, and be oriented to protect human rights."
"The absence in Budget 2017 of any reference to business and human rights, let alone an ombudsperson, is glaring," said Emily Dwyer of the Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability. "Over 100,000 Canadians and hundreds of organizations from Canada and around the world have called on Canada to act. Yet, since the federal election there has been no demonstrable shift in Canada's human rights policy when it comes to the extractive sector."
"The establishment of a human rights ombudsperson for the international extractive sector is a necessary prerequisite to achieving the federal government's aim of global leadership and is consistent with a human rights approach to development and with a feminist foreign policy," said Julia Sanchez of the Canadian Council on International Co-operation. "It would also be instrumental to Canadian efforts to obtain a seat on the United Nations Security Council."
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