Jim Carr said lawyers still need to study whether the office will be able to force companies to turn over documents or compel witnesses to testify
Human rights organizations are accusing the Liberal government of bending to corporate interests after Ottawa revealed new details of its plans to create a watchdog to investigate complaints about Canadian companies operating abroad.
Human rights advocates said it would be impossible to effectively investigate corporate misconduct allegations without such powers, and accused the Liberal government of backing off of earlier commitments to provide such powers. She noted that Global Affairs Canada has posted a frequently asked questions section about the ombudsperson office on its website. In one question and answer, the government said it was committed to providing the office with such powers. But by Monday, that language had been removed.
The position comes at a time when citizens of other countries have brought civil lawsuits against at least three Canadian mining companies in the country’s courts, claiming they were victims of violence, coerced into forced labor and other human rights abuses. The suits rely on novel legal theories and none have been resolved by trial yet, but suggest growing awareness about corporate conduct abroad.
“We’re saying give us another few weeks, we’re hoping to have this resolved by early June,” said Jones.
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