We are deeply troubled by Prime Minister Carney’s decision to eliminate the Office of the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE), an office that was created after over a decade of faith-based and wider civil society advocacy.
Earlier this year, multiple cabinet ministers pointed to the CORE as an example of Canada’s approach to meeting its international human rights obligations. The government now claims it can be replaced by new forced‑labour legislation introduced under U.S. tariff pressure. This is misleading. The CORE had a much different and broader mandate to investigate a range of abuses, including environmental harm, land dispossession, and human rights violations tied to Canadian mining operations abroad. These mechanisms are not interchangeable.
Dismantling the CORE undermines Canada’s commitments to human dignity and international human rights. ORCIE calls for the immediate reinstatement of a strengthened, fully empowered CORE capable of delivering the accountability and justice this moment demands.
We stand in solidarity with communities that have experienced human and labour rights and environmental violations by Canadian companies abroad. They deserve a real path to accountability and justice.
As members of the Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability, ORCIE joins our partners in a shared call for accountability, and the reinstatement of a CORE capable of protecting human dignity.
Read ORCIE’s letter to the Prime Minister Mark Carney, and then we encourage you take a moment to write to your local MP, affirming that Canada must stand firm in protecting dignity and justice for communities worldwide:
TAKE ACTION: We invite members to tell Prime Minister Carney to listen to constituents, not corporate lobbyists. Reinstate the CORE, this time with the powers and independence it has always needed. Sign on as individual only. Take Action | CNCA – RCRCE