The House of Commons International Trade Committee met to study Canada’s efforts to eliminate forced labour from supply chains, focusing on the recently introduced Bill C-35. Appearing were Sara Wilshaw, Graeme Hamilton, Lynn McDonald, Robert Brookfield, and Cathy Toxopeus from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Development and the Canada Border Services Agency.
Sara Wilshaw stated that Canada is committed to eliminating forced labour as a moral imperative and to ensure fair competition, noting that Canada is the only country with both an import prohibition and supply chain transparency legislation. She said Bill C-35, introduced on June 12, strengthens the existing import ban by improving the ability to identify and intercept goods produced by forced labour, and that it complements international partnerships and obligations.
Graeme Hamilton said the CBSA has an internal targeting list of several hundred entities but has not published enforcement statistics for forced labour due to the limited number of cases and privacy concerns. He acknowledged that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection publishes a searchable public dataset on forced labour seizures, and that Canada shares information with the U.S. through embeds in each other’s national targeting centres. He noted that Bill C-35 would address challenges with the current shipment-by-shipment enforcement by creating a public list and requiring importers to provide documentation.
Lynn McDonald confirmed that the USTR 301 report examined 60 economies, and that Canada has met its obligations under CUSMA’s forced labour provisions. She said that a decision on whether to make submissions in the U.S. hearing process on its proposed actions is under consideration but not yet made, and that U.S. motivations for broad-based tariffs may relate to expiring tariff authorities.
Robert Brookfield explained that Bill C-35 would allow the Minister of Foreign Affairs to establish a flexible list of goods, regions, or companies suspected of forced labour, which can be updated without amending the law, unlike the U.S. system. He said the bill shifts the onus to importers to prove their goods are free of forced labour, and that consultations on the list will occur this summer. He disagreed with the Bloc Québécois member’s suggestion that targeting specific regions is simpler, arguing the bill provides greater flexibility.
Cathy Toxopeus confirmed that information sharing with the U.S. occurs through the national targeting centre to inform targeting, but she could not provide the number of products currently banned in Canada.
During questioning, Jacob Mantle pressed for details on specific goods blocked by the U.S., such as sea salt, bicycles, and copper products, but Hamilton could not provide information on investigations. Mantle cited a USTR report criticizing Canada’s enforcement, and Hamilton acknowledged that CBSA has not published forced labour enforcement statistics. Patrick Bonin requested written comparisons between Bill C-35 and the U.S. system, and between the current regime and the proposed bill. Michael Kram raised concerns about Chinese electric vehicle imports and whether they are produced with forced labour, with Wilshaw and Hamilton stating that the current ban applies to all products but enforcement is challenging on a shipment-by-shipment basis. The committee did not make any decisions or pass any motions during this meeting.
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