It’s time for a national plan on responsible business and human rights

While no particular management approach is prescribed, the act of reporting on how companies take steps to address risks of human trafficking, debt bondage and forced labour drives market pressures to adopt best practices. While human rights and Indigenous rights have been raised by the government as an issue for discussion in the context of the North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations and is regularly addressed in international trade agreements, there is no public policy strategy to address the human rights impacts of Canadian business globally and in line with international standards. There is also an important role for government to promote consistency in setting a standard of acceptable conduct to protect the reputation of Canadian business globally. Since 2009, Canada has had in place a corporate social responsibility strategy for the extractive sector, which is intended to preserve and enhance the reputation of that industry globally.