Canada’s ombudsperson for corporate misconduct abroad stepping down

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The Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise, a watchdog tasked with investigating allegations of human-rights violations linked with Canadian companies’ activities abroad, has a new interim leader, the federal government said, as the first person to hold that role is stepping down.

Global Affairs Canada did not give reasons for the departure, other than to say Sheri Meyerhoffer completed her five-year term. The former ombudsperson was appointed in 2019 to a five-year term, with the option of a renewal. That term ended this week, on April 30.

The CORE has been the subject of criticism over its lack of powers to investigate and, in its early days, lack of action.

International Trade Minister Mary Ng “thanks Ms. Meyerhoffer for her work over the past five years in establishing the office of the CORE and creating a solid foundation to strengthen responsible business conduct for Canadian companies operating abroad,” the government said in a statement.

The office’s interim ombudsperson, Masud Husain, has worked in Canada’s foreign service for three decades and was previously director general and deputy legal adviser at Global Affairs. The announcement did not say how long he will remain in the interim role.

Human-rights advocates have raised concerns over the mandate of the office, saying it lacks teeth. The Liberal government had originally promised to give the CORE the powers to investigate companies accused of wrongdoing, by granting it the ability to compel witnesses and testimony. It reneged on that pledge a year later, when the office opened without those powers.

In February, the government announced a review of the CORE’s “effectiveness and progress to date.” In its announcement this week, it said this review will happen later this year. “Findings of the review will help inform the future direction of the CORE,” said Global Affairs spokesperson Pierre Cuguen in an e-mailed response to questions.

The office of the CORE is funded with $4.3-million per year on a continuing basis, Global Affairs told The Globe and Mail last month.

The office was created to probe human-rights abuse allegations linked with Canadian companies’ operations outside the country in the garment, oil and mining sectors. Originally, the federal government said the CORE’s mandate would be expanded to look at other sectors, but that never happened.

The government announced its plan to create the CORE in 2018. Ms. Meyerhoffer was appointed as ombud in April, 2019, and the CORE officially opened in May of that year.

Some advocates had also raised concerns that the CORE hadn’t completed investigations in its first four years of operating, The Globe reported last year. The office has since published a number of reports in recent months – among them two final reports on investigations and two closed complaints, all of which relate to concerns of companies and alleged use of Uyghur forced labour in China.

Canada’s watchdog for corporate abuses abroad struggling to get companies to co-operate

Its last quarterly report says the CORE currently has 22 active complaints under review, in the mining and garment sectors. Its current caseload has complaints related to corporate activities in China, Chile, Honduras and Bangladesh.

Ms. Meyerhoffer has publicly said her office would be more effective if it had the powers to compel testimony and documents. And many human-rights experts still want to see the CORE given the powers to investigate.

“To effectively serve people harmed by Canadian companies abroad, the CORE requires independence from government and the power to compel documents and testimony – as the government promised when it announced the office over six years ago,” said Aidan Gilchrist-Blackwood, network co-ordinator at the Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability.

“We’ve seen this call echoed by the outgoing CORE herself and in expert analysis commissioned by the CORE and by the Canadian government. The government should immediately equip the interim CORE with these essential powers.”

The CORE is part of the federal government’s strategy for responsible business conduct abroad, which also includes new measures on forced labour. Ottawa has said it will table “strong” legislation by the end of this year, in an effort to eradicate forced labour from Canadian supply chains.