Advocates are calling on Ottawa to profoundly change the powers of the watchdog who monitors Canadian corporations operating abroad, as the Liberals review how a new ombudsman should take on the job.

鈥淲e have communities that are suffering human-rights and environmental harms, because of the operations of Canadian companies outside of Canada,鈥� said Karen Hamilton, director of the advocacy group Above Ground.

The Trudeau government replaced a monitor for the mining sector five years ago with what it called the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise, or CORE.

Originally, the Liberals said the watchdog would have the power to compel documents and testimony. But the government left those powers out of the mandate when it launched the role in 2019.

It also constrained the office鈥檚 work to the mining, petroleum and garment sectors, despite describing the role as having a wider mandate.

The first ombudsperson, Sheri Meyerhoffer, completed her five-year term on-schedule last week.

Global Affairs Canada has announced that one of its on-staff lawyers, Masud Husain, would be her interim replacement. But the office of Trade Minister Mary Ng later said he will be Meyerhoffer鈥檚 full successor following an official cabinet order.

Ottawa has also announced a review of the position, saying it will decide later this week whether to change the scope of the office. Hamilton said that鈥檚 an opportunity to go beyond 鈥渉alf-measures鈥� and give the role some teeth.

鈥淚f we don鈥檛 improve the CORE, we spent a lot of money on an office that doesn鈥檛 accomplish very much when it has the potential to,鈥� she said.

Her group is part of the Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability, which for years argued that Ottawa needs to empower the watchdog with the ability to compel documents and testimony. Meyerhoffer herself has argued for such powers.

Meyerhoffer only launched her first investigations last summer 鈥� four years into her mandate 鈥� and completed just one case in March, finding a Vancouver firm had not done enough to prevent possible slave labour in China.

Hamilton noted that this investigation included a statement from Meyerhoffer that 鈥渋s quite buried in the website鈥� and wasn鈥檛 part of the press release sent to reporters.

In the statement, Meyerhoffer noted the 鈥渆normous potential to strengthen鈥� her role, and she said that not being able to compel documents or testimony from the company she was investigating made it hard to tell what the firm was actually doing.

鈥淕overnment can and should better equip the CORE to fulfil its mandate,鈥� she wrote.

鈥淭he ombudsperson must be able to uncover why, and how, companies are falling short of their responsibilities. We need to hear it directly from them, and we need to share that information with the public.鈥�

Liberal MP John McKay publicly confronted Ng in 2021 about why his government reneged on allowing Meyerhoffer to compel evidence. He is now hoping the government follows through.

鈥淭he next CORE officeholder needs the capacity to compel the production of documents and the testimony of witnesses, and hopefully the Government of Canada will include these necessary powers,鈥� he wrote on the platform X.

He added that Meyerhoffer did 鈥渁n impressive job鈥� in conducting professional investigations.

Days before finishing her role, Meyerhoffer also convinced activists to withdraw a complaint accusing Hugo Boss of forced labour. She wrote that her announcement of an investigation led to informal mediation, where the company 鈥減rovided a satisfactory response or remedy to their allegations,鈥� though she didn鈥檛 provide more detail.

Meyerhoffer also announced a development in her probe against Canadian mining firm GobiMin Inc., which divested its assets in the Xinjiang region of China where there were allegations of Uyghur slave labour, 鈥渢o a buyer who made public commitments to respecting international human rights.鈥�

Yet Hamilton said the government can鈥檛 rely on companies to do the right thing.

鈥淚f you cannot compel companies to produce testimony and documents, many companies will not engage meaningfully.鈥�

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Dylan Robertson, The Canadian Press