The following letter was sent to Maninder Sidhu, Minister of International Trade, by MiningWatch Canada.
RE: Canada’s commitment to a strong Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE)
Dear Minister Sidhu,
As the Government of Canada considers its priorities and budget we are writing to remind you of the commitment made to Canadians by then trade minister François-Philippe Champagne when he announced the creation of the CORE in 2018.
The CORE is a critical component of the Government of Canada’s commitment to Responsible Business Conduct and to human rights as it is Canada’s only non-judicial mechanism that will independently investigate complaints of human rights abuses related to the activity of Canadian companies operating overseas and report publicly on its findings.
Last year, Mary Ng acknowledged the “important role that the CORE plays as part of Canada’s broader responsible business conduct policy framework” and the “public interest in the activities of the office.”
Since the office was opened in 2019, the demand for its services has grown steadily as demonstrated by the significant and growing number of complaints that the office has received over time. Therefore, we note with deep concern that the term of interim Ombudsperson Masud Husain ended on May 20, 2025, leaving the post vacant. We understand that there are at least 32 active requests for review before the CORE that have not progressed since Mr. Husain’s term ended.
Canadians have invested significant time and resources into the creation and maintenance of this necessary mechanism. Canada has actively promoted this office through our missions overseas and has encouraged people in countries where our extractive and garment sector companies operate to use this office.
We are writing to urge the Government of Canada to honour its commitment to Canadians, to human rights and to those affected by the operations of our companies overseas to ensure the CORE soon will be staffed with a new ombudsperson so that it can continue to do its vital work.
We look forward to your reply to this letter.
Sincerely yours,
Catherine Coumans, Ph.D.
Co-manager MiningWatch Canada
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Cover photo by Louie Luo.