Canada Should Catch Up With Allies in Legislation Against China’s Forced Labour, Advocate Says

Workers walk by the perimeter fence of a labour camp in Xinjiang on Sept. 4, 2018. Thomas Peter/Reuters

Canada’s hesitance in addressing China’s forced labour practices involving minority groups has drawn criticism from a global economic justice group, which is urging Canada to align its measures with those taken by allied democracies, including a ban on imports tied to forced labour.

Claude Vaillancourt, president of the Quebec-based advocacy group Association pour la Taxation des Transactions financières et pour l’Action Citoyenne, warned MPs about Canada’s trade relationship with countries “where forced labour exists on a large scale,” specifically highlighting such practices in China.

“This situation should prompt Canada to react strongly because China is engaging in new levels of repression that could be mimicked by other countries,” Mr. Vaillancourt said during testimony before the House of Commons Special Committee on the Canada–People’s Republic of China Relationship on Feb. 26.

Forced Labour in China

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been utilizing forced labour going back decades, such as during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s to 1970s when 17 million urban youth were “sent-down” to work in rural areas. This practice persists today, serving as a means of suppressing political targets, including religious and ethnic minorities such as Uyghurs, Falun Gong practitioners, and others.

As part of international efforts to address Beijing’s forced labour targeting Uyghurs in China’s Xinjiang region, Canada amended the Customs Tariff Act on July 1, 2020, prohibiting the importation from all countries of goods produced, in whole or in part, by forced or compulsory labour.

Subsequently, in early 2021, Global Affairs Canada released an advisory, cautioning Canadian companies operating in and doing business with China of the risks they face if their supply chains are involved in forced labour.

However, more than a year after the establishment of laws prohibiting the import of products believed to have been manufactured by slave labour in 2020, Canada seized only one shipment of goods from China, in November 2021. Mr. Vaillancourt noted that even this shipment was eventually allowed into the country.

In contrast, he pointed out that authorities in the United States have, as of December 2023, denied the entry of 2,547 shipments suspected of links to forced labour in Xinjiang or elsewhere in China. The number of shipments denied entry had increased to 2,972 as of January 2024, according to data from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

“Clearly Canada is lax and must urgently tighten up the criteria used to determine when an embargo is placed on goods in overly dubious conditions,” Mr. Vaillancourt said.

“Countries such as France, Germany, Norway, and the United States have developed policies along these lines. Canada could go at least that far and create its own model.”

In November 2021, Sen. Leo Housakos introduced a bill, S-204, with the aim of prohibiting the importation of goods from China’s Xinjiang region amid concerns about slave labour. However, the bill has not received support and has sat idle in the Senate since May 2022.

‘Meaningful and Strong Steps’

In February 2021, MPs unanimously passed a non-binding motion declaring that the Chinese regime has been carrying out a genocide against Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims.

Mr. Vaillancourt noted that this official recognition of the CCP’s genocide of Uyghurs and various other minorities in China prompts a reevaluation of the trade relationship with China.

“We need to take meaningful and strong steps to prevent the products of forced labour from finding their way onto shelves of our shops,” he said.

He proposed several countermeasures including enacting legislation to prevent forced labour of Uyghurs, similar to existing measures in the United States, and introducing binding legislation mandating companies to exercise due diligence regarding human rights and the environment.

Additionally, he advocated for the restructuring of the Office of the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) into an independent office with investigative powers. Established in 2019, CORE is responsible for reviewing complaints related to potential human rights abuses by Canadian companies operating abroad. It particularly focuses on the garment, mining, and oil and gas sectors.