An independent, well-resourced office for an ombudsperson that can investigate allegations and enforce orders on Canadian extractives’ overseas operations should be established by the federal government to provide effective remedies in a timely and inexpensive manner, recommends a United Nations working group on business and human rights.
extractive sector
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UN panel calls on Canada to appoint extractive sector ombudsperson
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UN Working Group calls on Canada to do more to address human rights abroad
A United Nations working group on business and human rights is calling on federal and provincial governments as well as industry associations and companies to bolster their efforts to prevent and address “adverse human rights impacts” of business activities in Canada and abroad.
The UN panel lauded the federal government for undertaking some initiatives to deal with business and human rights, particularly in the extractive sector, but underscored that it could do much more.
“We believe that there is greater room for both federal and provincial governments, industry associations and companies, to consider their activities both domestically and overseas through a human rights lens, using the UN Guiding Principles (on business and human rights) as a baseline to assess corporate respect for human rights,” said the panel in its statement.