Last May 14, the Canadian Network for Corporate Accountability (CNCA) held a webinar on “Minding our own business: How to ensure Canadian businesses respect human rights abroad”. Over 230 people joined the presentation to hear powerful testimony from people whose lives have been negatively impacted by Canadian mining companies in the Philippines and the Brazilian Amazon, and by Canadian garment companies in Bangladesh, and how the COVID-19 pandemic is exacerbating their situation. The main presenters included:
- Cristina (Tinay) Palabay, General Secretary of KARAPATAN, Philippines
- Francisco Oliveira da Silva, Jéssica Maciel Cabral, Ildair dos Santas and other leaders of the Mura people of the Brazilian Amazon. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8h-5gnmAutE
- Kalpona Akter, Executive Director of the Bangladesh Center for Workers’ Solidarity. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSXlsw3VGu0.
Canadian members of Parliament Heather McPherson, NDP MP for Edmonton-Strathcona, Elizabeth May, Green Party MP for Saanich-Gulf Islands, and Nate Erskine-Smith, Liberal MP for Beaches-East York, talked about what action Canada should take on business and human rights.
You can watch a recording of the webinar here:
English
French
#Empower the ombudsperson and #Enact corporate accountability legislation!
The webinar also kickstarted CNCA’s e-petition to get Parliament to empower the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) and enact legislation on mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence.
- Sign the petition today! : https://petitions.ourcommons.ca/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-2564. Signing a parliamentary e-petition is a two-step process. Once you sign, you will receive an email that you will need to click in order to confirm your signature.
Sign the petition now - To collect as many signatures as possible, please share the #empower and #enact CHALLENGE on your Facebook, Instagram, and/or Twitter accounts today!
For more information about how you can advocate for mining justice, contact:
Amnesty International Canada: Fiona Koza – fkoza@amnesty.ca
Canadian Jesuits International: Victor Reyes – vreyes@jesuits.org
Development and Peace-Caritas Canada: Elana Wright-ewright@devp.org
KAIROS Canada: Gabriela Jimenez – gjimenez@kairoscanada.org
Inter Pares: Ashley Armstrong – aarmstrong@interpares.ca
Oxfam Canada: Ian Thomson – Ian.Thomson@oxfam.org
United Church of Canada: Christie Neufeldt – cneufeldt@united-church.ca
MiningWatch Canada: Catherine Coumens – catherine@miningwatch.ca
Canadian Labour Congress: Emily Norgang – enorgang@clcctc.ca
Maritimes-Guatemala Breaking the Silence Network: Stacey Gomez – BTSmaritimescoordinator@gmail.com
Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability: Emily Dwyer-edwyer@cnca-rcrce.ca
*The webinar was part of May Month of Action for Mining Justice Month, which is an annual initiative of the 38 member organizations of the Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability.
