QUESTION PERIOD — Ministry of Public Safety
Forced Labour
September 19, 2024
Minister LeBlanc, shipments of goods suspected of being the result of forced labour are being blocked at the U.S. border. According to experts who spoke to the CBC, those shipments are being redirected to Canada, where they have no difficulty entering the country. U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, a Democrat from Oregon, even criticized Canada for being the back door that allows banned goods onto the continent.
Senator Merkley proposed a solution: that Canada and the U.S. share a list of companies suspected of forced labour and that the goods of these companies be automatically blocked at the borders of our two countries.
Will your government adopt this simple and effective solution? And if not, why?
Your Honour, through you to the senator, we have taken note of the United States senator’s suggestion. I spoke to my colleague in the other place John McKay about this very issue as recently as earlier today. I am working with the department on the sort of first annual report that we must make, as was prescribed by the legislation.
In my conversations with officials of the Canada Border Services Agency who report to me and the Department of Public Safety, I’ve asked them to give me options directly on point with the question you posed, senator, and the issue raised by the United States.
Senator, I have also spoken on a number of occasions to the United States Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, who is responsible for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. He and I have as recently as a couple of months ago discussed a way to make sure there isn’t a loophole so that people can’t do indirectly what we collectively don’t want them to do directly. I would be happy to work with you and other colleagues on the most practical and effective way to avoid exactly that.
I’m still on the topic of modern slavery, and you’ve alluded to that. To date, 6,000 companies have submitted reports on the risk of forced labour in their supply chains, as required by Bill S-211.
Under this new law, you are required to report to Parliament by September 30, in about two weeks, to assess whether the law is being followed. Can you tell us approximately how many companies covered by the act have failed to report, and whether or not the reports submitted generally meet the requirements of the law?
Your Honour, that’s a very good question. At the front end of your question, senator, you said I have about two more weeks to come up with that exact report, and I know, of all people, you will be looking forward to that report being public.
I have seen drafts of that work. I have looked at it with my department, and I wouldn’t propose to scoop my very own report that will be, of course, tabled within the deadline. Once you see that information and a lot more in that exact report tabled before the deadline prescribed by law, I would be happy to follow up with you on any other suggestions you have.
