Posted: Wednesday, 29 February 2012

Executive Summary

On behalf of the 3.3 million members of the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), we want to thank you for allowing us the opportunity to present our views. The CLC brings together Canada’s national and international unions along with the provincial and territorial Federations of Labour and 130 District Labour Councils, whose members work in virtually all sectors of the Canadian economy, in all occupations, in all parts of Canada.

The CLC has a long history of working with trade unions and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) throughout the world with partners to improve the lives of working people. In the last decade alone, the CLC has managed projects in over 30 countries, many of which were funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

Based on our long experience, the CLC calls on the federal government to:

1. Support industrial policies that promote sustainable and equitable economic development and decent employment, both at home and abroad. Active government policies are needed, beyond the limited role of the state as an enabler of market and private sector driven policies. The government must follow through with its commitment to outcomes of the 2011 Busan High Level Forum, which emphasizes the importance of ensuring strong country ownership of development, accountability and transparency through the New Global Partnership for Effective Development.
2. Establish an effective and legal framework for responsible private sector commitment based on internationally agreed standards such as the International Labour Organization (ILO) labour standards, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) guidelines on mulit-national enterprises and the United Nations (UN) Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights.
3. Promote the G20 Commitments to implement the ILO Decent Work Agenda as a direct means of eradicating poverty.

Read the full submission here.