Thanks to the @canadiansorg.bsky.social for the opportunity to participate in a discussion about corporate power and AI. It was powerful to hear from so many experts and thoughtful social justice advocates over the two days of the convening in Montreal.

AI, military could overtake renewable energy efforts in Critical Mineral Strategy quoimedia.com/the-federal-... #climatechange #cdnpoli #mining #environment #renewableenergy @miningwatch.bsky.social @abovegroundngo.bsky.social

Le Canada prend-il la lutte contre le travail forcé au sérieux? L’absence de dirigeant permanent au Bureau de l’ombudsman canadien de la responsabilité des entreprises sème le doute sur la volonté du gouvernement. Commentaire d' @abovegroundngo.bsky.social & RCRCE: www.lapresse.ca/dialogue/opi...

Dès aujourd’hui, le poste d’Ombudsman canadien de la responsabilité des entreprises demeure vacant depuis un an. Sans ombudsman, le bureau ne peut pas traiter les plaintes. Les personnes ayant subi des préjudices sont laissées dans l’incertitude. cnca-rcrce.ca/fr/2026/05/2...

Today marks one year since the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise was left leaderless and unable to move complaints forward. Directly-impacted communities and workers still haven't received answers to requests for even basic information. cnca-rcrce.ca/2026/05/21/f...

Le Canada prend-il la lutte contre le travail forcé au sérieux ? La directrice d'Above Ground, Karen Hamilton, et Aidan Gilchrist-Blackwood du @cnca-rcrce.bsky.social abordent cette question dans une lettre d’opinion publiée cette semaine dans La Presse: www.lapresse.ca/dialogue/opi...

Les modifications règlementaires annoncées par le gouvernement fédéral menacent d’affaiblir de nombreuses protections environnementales en vigueur au Canada. Nous demandons aux élu·es fédéraux de s’y opposer. L’intérêt public, la santé de nos communautés et l’environnement sont la priorité.

Please read this important new report documenting the highest number of attacks against human rights defenders in the past five years. 30 of the attacks recorded in 2025 are connected to Canadian companies.

Canada has failed to keep pace with international standards, leading jurisdictions, and civil society proposals to prevent corporate abuses abroad -- all while it expands its partnerships with companies in high-risk sectors. Read more in our new report: cnca-rcrce.ca/2026/04/29/t...

Together with @cnca-rcrce.bsky.social and Centre international de solidarité ouvrière (CISO), we published commentary in today's Montreal Gazette on Canadian business ties to ICE and lessons from France: montrealgazette.com/opinion/op-e... @stand.earth

Canada must clamp down on corporate ties to ICE by adopting enforceable standards, real oversight and meaningful consequences for human rights abuse -- as France and other countries have done. @abovegroundngo.bsky.social montrealgazette.com/opinion/op-e...

Above Ground and @miningwatch.bsky.social argue in today's @hilltimes.com that the federal government's approach to critical minerals could be fueling climate chaos rather than curbing it. We must end the greenwashing and prioritize people and the planet. www.hilltimes.com/2026/05/06/f...

Today, the @ihrp.bsky.social filed a request with the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) to investigate Brazil Potash for alleged misrepresentations made to its investors.

Les entreprises canadiennes sont liées à l’effondrement du Rana Plaza, une tragédie évitable qui a coûté la vie à plus de 1100 travailleur-euses. 13 ans plus tard, le Canada demeure complice d’atteintes aux droits humains dans le monde. @oxfamcanada.bsky.social cnca-rcrce.ca/fr/2026/04/2...

Canadian companies are linked to the Rana Plaza building collapse, a preventable tragedy that killed over 1100 workers. 13 years later, Canada continues to fail impacted people. Our companies remain complicit in human rights abuses worldwide. @oxfamcanada.bsky.social cnca-rcrce.ca/2026/04/24/f...

Lawyers urge Ottawa ban Alabama forced labour in vehicle imports @ihrp.bsky.social www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/lawyers-urge...

11 Canadian corporate groups will have to comply with the EU's Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive when it comes into force. Check out @somoamsterdam.bsky.social 's excellent datahub for more information!

Les entreprises canadiennes sont liées à de graves abus de l'ICE. Le Canada n'a aucun cadre juridique contraignant pour les empêcher. Cela doit changer. Analyse de Karen Hamilton d' @abovegroundngo.bsky.social, Amélie Nguyen du CISO et Aidan Gilchrist du RCRCE👇 www.lautjournal.info/20260414/les...

UBC's International Justice and Human Rights Clinic and Catherine Coumans from @miningwatch.bsky.social and @cnca-rcrce.bsky.social presented to the All Party Parliament Group to End Modern Slavery on the importance of Canada appointing a new Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE):

Press conference: academics and legislators discuss forced labour in Canadian supply chains www.cpac.ca/headline-pol...

Is Canada even serious about confronting forced labour? Above Ground's Director Karen Hamilton and the @cnca-rcrce.bsky.social 's Aidan Gilchrist-Blackwood address this question in an op-ed in today's Globe and Mail. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/com...

"If the Canadian government wants to promote Canada as a leader in responsible business, it must move beyond vague statements. Its next step could be properly staffing and empowering the CORE." New op-ed from @abovegroundngo.bsky.social & CNCA 👇 www.theglobeandmail.com/business/com...

"Des entreprises canadiennes fournissent au gouv. américain des produits utilisés pour commettre des atteintes aux droits humains, et le gouv. fédéral ne fait rien pour les en empêcher." Lisez notre éditorial sur GardaWorld, ICE et ce que le Canada peut apprendre de la France: tinyurl.com/2p9unm8

Above Ground is pleased to endorse this complaint.

Today, Above Ground attended a meeting organized by the All Party Parliamentary Group to End Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking. Below are our recommendations for Canada's next steps on forced labour:

Aujourd’hui, Above Ground a participé à une rencontre organisée par le Groupe parlementaire multipartite de lutte contre l’esclavage moderne et la traite des personnes. Voici nos recommandations pour les prochaines étapes du Canada en matière de travail forcé :

PBI-Canada observes rally in Ottawa where Indigenous leaders from territories in British Columbia call on Export Development Canada (EDC) not to finance the Ksi Lisims LNG terminal and the LNG Canada Phase 2 expansion: pbicanada.org/2026/04/14/p... #PBIaccompanies

Manifest-level shipping data is not publicly released in Canada. It is in the U.S., where third-party organizations like NGOs can help investigate and uncover forced labour. tinyurl.com/25bujdem

"... even the reduced U.S. enforcement represents more significant action than in Canada." tinyurl.com/3nbvj75s

Read a letter by the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project to 🇨🇦's prime minister, with recommendations for improving Canada's import ban on goods made by forced labour: static1.squarespace.com/static/62ea9... @mmccuaig-johnston.bsky.social @sarahtteich.bsky.social

"Human-rights advocates are...calling on the government to adopt a legal presumption that would treat all products from China’s Xinjiang region as tainted by forced labour unless importers can prove otherwise." tinyurl.com/4dkvy869 @mmccuaig-johnston.bsky.social @stevenchase.bsky.social

At 4:45, CBC's World Report covers Quebec-based company GardaWorld’s ~$1B contract to operate a new ICE detention centre in Arizona. The segment includes comments from Above Ground's director, Karen Hamilton. www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...

Above Ground's director, Karen Hamilton, calls for both GardaWorld and the Quebec government to be held to account. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/... @cnca-rcrce.bsky.social

Despite recent comments from the Canadian government to the contrary, Canada is not effectively enforcing its ban on goods made with forced labour. This should be corrected in the interest of protecting human rights and labour rights worldwide. tinyurl.com/2ubcmm27

The PM says Canada takes forced labour "incredibly seriously" yet: 🇨🇦 doesn't enforce its forced labour import ban 🇨🇦 doesn't enforce its forced labour reporting obligation on companies 🇨🇦 has left the post of Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise vacant for a year tinyurl.com/nhb9u569

The prime minister says Canada has strong measures to stop goods made with forced labour from entering the country, yet the Canada Border Services Agency has blocked only two such shipments since 2021? www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/art... @mark-carney.bsky.social @cnca-rcrce.bsky.social

This is the first we've heard, since the review of the CORE began in 2024, that the government is planning on keeping the office. While this is positive, we need action promptly for a functioning and effective office.

"Georgina Alonso with Above Ground, a human-rights and corporate-accountability project, said without an ombudsperson, CORE is hampered from moving forward on new complaints about companies."

The UN Human Rights Committee "underscores its concern about allegations of human rights abuses and environmental harm linked to companies domiciled in Canada or operating under its jurisdiction". UNHRC recommends Canada empower the CORE & adopt a due diligence law. www.ohchr.org/en/press-rel...

As Above Ground's senior research and advocacy officer Georgina Alonso explains, Canada's lack of enforcement of our forced labour import ban may put it at risk of US penalties. www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/art...

"World-class legislation followed by less-than-world-class implementation risks becoming an exercise in hypocrisy," write the former Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) and the co-sponsor of Canada's forced labour reporting law: www.hilltimes.com/2026/03/12/t...

Canada has left the position of Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise vacant since May 2025, and has failed to give the office long-promised teeth. This important new report from Lital Khaikin @rabble.ca looks at the harm caused by Canada's failure to act. rabble.ca/politics/can...

"An EDC spokesperson told The Globe and Mail in 2018 that the agency was reviewing the Transnet loan, but it did not disclose the fate of the loan until now." Above Ground wrote about the situation in 2018 here: aboveground.ngo/bombardier-g...

Le gouvernement fédéral propose d’accorder à ces ministres le pouvoir d’exempter les entreprises des lois canadiennes. Le RCRCE se joint à plus de 100 organisations et expert·es pour exhorter les député·es à retirer ces pouvoirs d’exemption dangereux et antidémocratiques. cqde.org/news/cqde-re...

"[T]he government is giving itself the sweeping power to sideline almost all federal laws and regulations, including the Canada Labour Code, our two federal privacy laws, the Hazardous Products Act and the Explosives Act," writes @genevievepaul.bsky.social and Anaïs Bussières McNicoll.

Read our open letter on C-15 « The omnibus budget bill gives unprecedented power to federal ministers to exempt virtually any entity from all federal laws and regulations—except the Criminal Code. » #polcan #C15 www.hilltimes.com/story/2026/0...