Yes, it's good to see you. Thanks for having me.
My name is Ken Neumann. I'm the Canadian national director for the United Steelworkers. I'm accompanied today by Doug Olthuis, who is the department leader for global affairs in my office.
I would like to bring this committee back to January 17, 2018. I happened to be in Ottawa that day, standing beside the Minister of International Trade, who at that time was François-Philippe Champagne, as he announced the creation of the Canadian ombudsperson for responsible enterprise, the CORE. I was happy to be there. Those kinds of press conferences are sometimes a bit of a celebration of a milestone or an achievement, and that's what this was.
That 2018 announcement signalled a real change, a change from the failed policies of the Harper Conservatives, a change that would benefit communities and workers around the world that are impacted by Canadian mining companies. It is also a change that would benefit the mining industry by ensuring a credible way to investigate allegations of abuse and to call out those individual companies harming people. This formed the basis for a better global reputation for Canadian mining.
Minister Champagne and his government were very clear: the CORE would have the ability to independently investigate complaints, including the ability to compel witnesses and documents, but as we all know, this is not the case.
Knowing what I know now, I would not have joined Minister Champagne on the podium in January 2018. Without the power to compel witnesses and documents, there is no breakthrough; there is no good first step. Instead, we are stuck with what the Harper government put in place, just under a new name.
It is true that there is more funding. However, an ineffective office, even with more money, is still an ineffective office. If the Liberal government had followed through on its commitments, we would not have been stuck in the middle of a pandemic going over old ground and again making the case for the creation of an effective office.
A few weeks ago, the Steelworkers Humanity Fund released a report entitled, “Not Even the Bare Minimum” that linked poverty wages to the supply chains of Canadian brands and retailers in Bangladesh. That report amplified the voices of women and men in Bangladesh, where the women sewing our clothes earn between $6 or $7 per day—that’s per day, not per hour. To earn living wages, garment workers’ wages would have to be tripled. The right to a decent life, to a living wage is a basic human right.
The UN guiding principles on business and human rights are clear that companies must respect human rights throughout their supply chains. Companies have responsibilities that extend to workers employed by the supplier factories.
The CORE mandate includes the garment sector. An ombudsperson's office with effective powers could have a role to investigate allegations of human rights harms caused in garment supply chains and point the way to change, but not the CORE as it stands. We have no confidence that a complaint brought by Bangladesh workers would result in any meaningful investigation. An investigation that depends completely on the co-operation of the company being investigated is hamstrung from the start.
Keep in mind that many Canadian retailers appear intent on refusing to take the simple step of publicly disclosing their list of supplier factories. They prefer to continue to operate in the dark. Privately owned Canadian retailers that do not publicly release financial data have no inclination or incentive for transparency. The CORE as it stands can’t begin to untangle the complexities of the global garment system.
As Canada’s main mining union, the steelworkers are convinced that mining can make an enormous contribution toward the equitable social and economic development of communities in Canada and globally while minimizing the impact on the environment and meeting our climate goals, but for the potential to be realized, the mining industry must respect human rights. That is not often the case, giving Canadian mining a bad name in many parts of the world.
A strong and effective CORE could also give Canadian mining industry a leg-up on global competition. Communities impacted by mining are likely going to be more receptive to Canadian investment if they have a credible avenue in Canada in cases where they feel their rights are violated.
Financial markets and purchasers such as Microsoft are also becoming sensitive to issues of climate and human rights along supply chains. They will increasingly favour companies whose social licence to operate appears solid and is not tainted by lingering allegations of corporate malfeasance.
For all of these considerations, Canadian mining will benefit from a credible CORE. I can’t say it more clearly than this. A strong CORE is good for the Canadian mining industry. Rather than resist and lobby against the office and the powers that are needed—