The Mining Association of Canada (MAC) supports efforts to eradicate child and forced labour from supply chains, and applauds the work of the Honourable Julie Miville-Dechêne, Senator, and the Honourable John McKay, P.C., M.P., in the development of Bill S-211, the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act that was passed by the House of Commons last evening.
MAC was pleased to engage constructively in the development of S-211 (and its predecessor Bill S-216), and made constructive suggestions to make it more workable at all stages of its legislative progression. This engagement is consistent with MAC leadership and awareness raising on this issue, most notably through the addition of the Preventing Child and Forced Labour Protocol to our Towards Sustainable Mining (TSM) initiative in 2019.
While it has been approved by Parliament, we note that operationalizing Bill S-211, and in particular, making reporting requirements and guidelines clear for entities who will be required to report, is essential to its success.
The mining industry is a major sector of Canada’s economy, contributing $125 billion to the national GDP and is responsible for 22 percent of Canada’s total domestic exports. Canada’s mining sector employs 665,000 people directly and indirectly across the country. The industry is proportionally the largest private sector employer of Indigenous peoples in Canada and a major customer of Indigenous-owned businesses.
About MAC
The Mining Association of Canada is the national organization for the Canadian mining industry. Its members account for most of Canada’s production of base and precious metals, uranium, diamonds, metallurgical coal, mined oil sands and industrial minerals and are actively engaged in mineral exploration, mining, smelting, refining and semi-fabrication. Please visit mining.ca.
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For more information, please contact:
Cynthia Waldmeier
Senior Director of Communications and Public Affairs, the Mining Association of Canada
Phone: 613-233-9392 x225 or 613-894-2128 (cell)
Email: cwaldmeier@mining.ca
