A bill passed by Parliament that creates reporting requirements for companies regarding products made by slave labour is seen by proponents as merely a first step in addressing the problem, while critics call it widely ineffective.
Bloc Québécois and NDP MPs voted against the bill sponsored by Sen. Julie Miville-Dechêne in the Upper Chamber and Liberal MP John McKay in the House.
“I’m very pleased to say that it was a very, very strong vote. And now the real work begins,” McKay said at a press conference in Ottawa on May 4.
McKay said he completed a “four-year journey” to get this passed, with previous efforts falling short.
“We want a bill that works. We want a bill that compels Canadian companies to expeditiously complete their obligations under the bill and to build, if you will, a database so that we can expunge this scourge from our economic life.”
The bill creates requirements for government institutions and private companies to produce annual reports to the minister of public safety and emergency preparedness on steps taken to prevent and reduce the risk of forced or child labour being used in the supply chain.
Companies encompassed by the legislation must do business in Canada, be listed on the stock exchange in Canada, and meet two conditions of having at least $20 million in assets, generate at least $40 million in revenue, or employ at least 250 employees.
NDP MP Heather McPherson, her party’s foreign affairs critic, criticized the legislation as doing “nothing to fight forced labour and child labour in Canadian supply chains.”
Canada has yet to stop a single shipment of goods made from slave labour, whereas the United States has stopped over 3,000, with over 400 being denied entry.
Under the renegotiated free trade agreement with the U.S. and Mexico, parties have a duty to eliminate all forms of forced labour and prevent the importation of products sourced from such labour.