Speech on Bill S-211: The Modern Slavery Act | Senator Omidvar

On March 10, 2020 Senator Omidvar made a speech in the Senate Chamber in support of Bill S-211: the Modern Slavery Act. In her remarks, Senator Omidvar discusses the role that modern slavery plays in the global supply chain and explains that the bill would amend the Customs Tariff Act to prohibit the importation of goods produced by forced labour.

Hon. Ratna Omidvar: Honourable senators, I, too, rise today to speak to the principles and intents behind Bill S-211, the modern slavery act. I wish to commend Senator Miville-Dechêne for bringing this bill forward to our attention.

The word “slavery” invokes history and disturbing images: the capture, imprisonment and slavery of millions of Africans who were auctioned and sold at trading posts in Africa from Senegal and then transported to North America to work on plantations. The dark and lasting legacy of slavery on the African-American and African-Canadian people is still with us and with them.

Although the transatlantic slave trade was abolished in the 19th century and those slaves were freed from their bondage, slavery, sadly, did not end. Instead, over time it has found new forms and expressions and morphed into a particularly pernicious form of oppression and brutality, finding victims in every corner of the world, including, as Senator Boyer has so eloquently pointed out, right here in Canada.

It is indeed a serious problem. According to the International Labour Organization, there are over 40 million modern slaves. Women and children make up 71% of this number, with a full 10 million being children. This is more than three times the number of the transatlantic slave trade.

So, colleagues, the problem has not gone away. In fact, it has multiplied many times over. As one writer noted, it is because slavery “is a 21st-century recession-proof growth industry.”

Who are modern-day slaves? They are those who are forced to work through coercion or mental or physical threat, trapped and controlled by an employer through mental or physical abuse or threat of abuse, dehumanized and treated as a commodity and bought and sold as property, physically constrained or restricted in their freedom of movement.

It’s perhaps not hard to imagine how a person falls into these claws. For my examples, I will go outside our borders because Senator Boyer covered what happens in Canada.

A vulnerable person looking for a livelihood in a neighbouring country finds themselves in the clutches of traffickers on a fishing boat. An individual borrows money for her medical ailments and finds herself in debt bondage to a farmer who extorts her into labour. And, most worryingly, a poor child is forced to work in a garment factory instead of going to school.

Why is this happening? Put bluntly, slavery is profitable. Much of the work that modern slaves are compelled to do finds its way into global supply chains headed by big multinational corporations. Slavery generates as much as $150 billion in profit every year, according to the ILO. Technology, migration patterns and community dynamics create a large supply of vulnerable and exploitable people who get trapped.

We know that global supply chains are complicated, interconnected and cover multiple countries and jurisdictions, all with the purpose of lowering costs and making profits. The multinationals transfer their lower-value activities to contractors and then the work gets contracted and subcontracted further down to another set of subcontractors. This opaque, fragmented system and mode of production makes it incredibly hard to enforce labour rights and standards, particularly when there are so many companies and jurisdictions involved. As a result, many of our everyday products could have used slave labour.

Recently, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute documented that it is religious and ethnic minorities who are being used as forced labour in factories in the supply chains of 83 well-known global brands in the technology, clothing and automotive sectors, including Apple, BMW, Gap, Huawei, Nike, Samsung, Sony and Volkswagen. A report by World Vision found that 80% of Canadians had no knowledge whether their purchases were made or somehow manufactured by exploited children. I admit to being one of them. I don’t know if the shoes I wear, the handbag I use or even these devices we carry around were, in one way or another, part of this global scourge.

One way of addressing this would be through consumer advocacy, education and activism. After all, we know the customer is king. As one example, I know that young Canadians are choosing ethical diamonds over blood diamonds for their engagement rings.

Honourable senators, it is clear that we need to take action. We need to stop multinational corporations’ reliance on using forced labour to turn an even bigger profit. Senator Miville-Dechêne’s bill is a start in that direction by bringing more accountability into the corporate governance structure. Canadian companies would be required to report on forced or child labour in their supply chains and identify what steps they would take in stopping these practices.

Polls have shown that 90% of Canadians agree with Senator Miville-Dechêne; they believe companies should be required to publicly report on their suppliers’ use of slave labour and their efforts to stop such practices. The honourable senator is onto something. I also believe there is a willingness in the corporate sector to look at this issue, because they take reputational risks seriously as well.

Twitter is a marvellous thing at times. The Dean of the Gustavson School of Business at the University of Victoria has said that: “Profit is not a purpose. It is one indicator of whether you are successful in your purpose.”

This bill is not only aspirational, colleagues; it has teeth. It would amend the Customs Tariff act to prohibit the importation of goods manufactured or produced by forced or child labour. If enacted, a regulatory and administrative regime and infrastructure under the CBSA would need to be implemented.

Some have said the bill doesn’t go far enough since it doesn’t compel companies to change their behaviour, only to report it. And it doesn’t provide a remedy to the victims since there is no liability mechanism to hold companies that have used forced or child labour to account. It may not reach the level of slavery in Canada, as Senator Boyer has described it, because most workplace slavery usually takes place in small shops and not companies regulated by the federal government. I could be wrong, but I suspect it won’t reach down into those situations.

This bill also does not address the underlying conditions in countries where the absence of housing, health and education contribute and aggravate the demand for slavery. Yet, it is an essential first step. I am not one to argue against incremental steps in dealing with a particularly complex and vexatious problem. I don’t want to let perfection stand in the way of good.

I look forward to hearing other ideas at committee that will strengthen the bill. I am particularly encouraged that this bill comes with cross-party support. I hope we can all work more in this way.

Let me close by saying that modern slavery is a scourge on our world. It catches us all in its net; there is no one who is completely innocent, whether knowingly or unknowingly. I recall the words of Frederick Douglass, a famous abolitionist:

No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man without at last finding the other end fastened about his own neck.

Colleagues, let us take this first step in discarding these chains. Thank you very much.