On October 5, 2011, NDP MP Peter Julian (Burnaby-New Westminster) introduced C-323, The International Promotion and Protection of Human Rights Act. There is now an on-line petition to collect signatures to demonstrate to the House of Commons the level of public support for this private members bill.
The Council of Canadians is supporting this legislation. We believe the bill is of particular significance given the harmful actions of Canadian-owned mining companies in Latin America, http://canadians.org/mining.
The petition says in part, “many multinational Canadian and foreign corporations face international condemnation for the practice of socially and environmentally destructive practices including: forced displacement of communities, social conflicts, violent disruption of protests against unfair employment practices, poisoned local water sources, destruction of fresh water sources, farmlands and fisheries…”
It concludes, “Therefore, your petitioners call on the Government of Canada to support Bill C‐323, the International Promotion and Protection of Human Rights Act, thereby creating a new civil cause of action that would allow the Canadian Federal Courts to hear and decide claims for violations of international law that occur outside of Canada, and allow non‐citizens to sue anyone for violations of basic human, environmental or labour rights when they are committed outside of Canada through the Canadian court system.”
TAKE ACTION! To download the petition, please go to http://peterjulian.ndp.ca/post/bill-c-323-walking-the-talk-human-rights-abroad-joindre-le-geste-a-la-parole-les-droits-de-la-personne-a-letranger (it’s there as an attachment at the bottom of the page).
To read a previous Council of Canadians blog entry on C-323, go to http://canadians.org/blog/?p=10957.
