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RECOMMENDATIONS

Recommendation 1:

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government, as an initial overall undertaking in making a timely comprehensive response to this report:

Recommendation 2:

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government:

Recommendation 3:

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government, in pursuing further action on child sexual exploitation and child soldiers within the context of an overall child labour strategy, take into account the specific suggestions of NGOs with relevant expertise working directly in the most affected countries.

Recommendation 4:

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government work to achieve the widest possible ratification by the end of the decade of a new ILO convention targetting intolerable forms of child labour exploitation, and that it undertake additional initiatives in areas of Canadian interest and competence to bolster the ILO's technical cooperation work, in particular through the International Program for the Elimination of Child Labour.

Recommendation 5:

The Subcommittee recommends that Canada assume a leadership role in raising child labour issues within the OAS, APEC, Commonwealth and La Francophonie; notably aiming to achieve implementation of a binding international standard, in particular by establishing common ground among countries of the North and the South. The Government should also encourage this aim working within the G-7 and OECD contexts, developing-country forums and other appropriate multilateral arenas.

Recommendation 6:

The Subcommittee recommends that Canada work within the international financial institutions to ensure that their policies and lending activities do not have a negative impact on children in vulnerable situations, but, on the contrary, work to increase compliance with international standards on child labour (i.e. obligations under Article 32 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child), and to promote investment in the advancement of poor families, in particular for women and for sustainable child development initiatives within recipient countries.

Recommendation 7:

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government take progressive steps to increase the proportion of Canadian development assistance devoted to meeting basic sustainable human development needs beyond the current target level of 25% of ODA, giving particular attention to addressing obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the root causes and circumstances of child labour exploitation. Furthermore, we recommend that CIDA build on exemplary work by the Norwegian development agency and several Canadian NGOs in order to integrate as fully as possible respect for international children's-rights standards into its funding and project assessment practices, and as an element of its aid negotiations with other countries.

Recommendation 8:

The Subcommittee recommends that, consistent with the elaboration of the strategy proposed in the first recommendation of this report, Canada target aid interventions for effective results by giving particular attention to the following:

Recommendation 9:

The Subcommittee recommends that Canada develop country-specific strategies supported by ODA for the elimination of child labour, working in close collaboration with other donors, state institutions, NGOs, labour and business. In conjunction with these efforts, the Government should select particular countries with which Canada has significant relationships and capacities for influence - in Asia, Africa, and Latin America - in order to test the feasibility of instituting development cooperation "pacts" aimed at eradicating child exploitation. Such pacts should among other things, adhere to the criteria suggested: reciprocity, independent monitoring, preference for incentives over sanctions, and promotion of private-sector and civil-society partnerships.

Recommendation 10:

The Subcommittee recommends that, despite the failure in Singapore last December to achieve agreement on inserting a ``social clause'' in the WTO, Canada continue to seek ways in which a new ILO convention prohibiting child labour exploitation could be feasibly incorporated into multilateral trade and economic liberalization agreements on a basis that could gain the support of at least a majority of developing-country governments. To that end, Canada should continue to promote cooperation between the ILO and the WTO on child labour issues, and should use to full advantage its NAFTA experience, Commonwealth and Francophonie contacts, participation in ASEAN and APEC, etc. to advance the idea that alternatives to child labour are not only a moral imperative but also a means to building better economic relationships among all concerned.

Recommendation 11:

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government explore ways to use the General Preferential Tariff (GPT), among other market-access and trade promotion measures as an incentive for exporting countries to eliminate child labour exploitation. Any regulations restricting trade should be based on reciprocal compliance with recognized international standards and subject to transparent supervision and child-impact assessments. Sanctions should only be considered when other measures to encourage countries to take action have not worked, and should seek industry and multilateral cooperation as much as possible.

Recommendation 12:

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government support efforts to establish independently-monitored product certification and inspection systems in tradeable goods sectors where child labour exploitation is a significant problem. Such systems should uphold clear standards approved by government, while seeking support for their implementation in cooperation with the private sector and through the involvement of civil-society organizations. As a specific test case, we further recommend that the Government implement the Rugmark initiative in Canada for a trial period of two years, after which an independent evaluation would be conducted and made public so as to contribute to lessons learned, and as a practice-oriented guide to decisions regarding the continued development of such programs.

Recommendation 13:

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government develop and publish a set of public policy guidelines for Canadian business practices addressing the issues of child labour exploitation, paying particular attention to incentives for voluntary adherence and to credible verification procedures, with supportive involvement from the private sector, labour and nongovernmental groups, and concerned citizens of all ages. If, after several years, independent evaluation of such a voluntary system reveals it to be ineffectual, we recommend that the Government proceed to develop provisions for legislated oversight and enforcement.

Recommendation 14:

The Subcommittee recommends that, in addition to advancing a formal policy on codes of conduct, the Government encourage the setting up of private-sector task forces on child labour practices in those sectors where exploitation of child workers is a significant international problem. As part of investigating and promoting ways in which Canadian businesses can do more to address the problems they encounter in countries of operation, these task forces should give attention to such issues as: Canadian participation in the negotiation of comprehensive arrangements to raise standards in specific industry sectors; business contributions to the joint funding of alternative programs for child workers and their families; the need for strategies that work in cooperation with overseas business partners, local communities and civil-society organizations.

Recommendation 15:

The Subcommittee recommends that Canada, in developing specific country strategies for combatting child labour exploitation, take particular account of efforts within these countries to raise public consciousness of children's rights, and support, by all available means, the work of democratic civil-society organizations fighting for the realization of these rights in law, social and economic practice.

Recommendation 16:

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government work collaboratively with provincial governments, civil-society organizations and media in Canada in order to build a broadly-based public campaign around ending child labour exploitation. To that end, the Government should explore with social partners the most effective means, including through CIDA channels, to support nongovernmental activities and broaden public participation.

Recommendation 17:

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government give a mandate to the CCIC to establish a youth task force to provide for input from young Canadians to policy makers on the issue of child labour. A specific aim should be to generate ideas for Canadian action on children's human rights in the context of achieving global sustainable human development and, in particular, on such priority objectives as ending child labour exploitation.

Recommendation 18:

The Subcommittee recommends that the Government support youth initiatives with the aim of ending exploitative child labour by utilising the network possibilities of existing communication technologies, including Radio Canada International and the United Nations communication networks, and by using existing international youth internship programs and partnership funds. The Subcommittee also recommends that RCI receive stable multi-year funding.

Recommendation 19:

Summing up, the Subcommittee recommends that the Government's comprehensive response to this report set out an action plan which entails both immediate and longer-term measures involving continued parliamentary input, inter alia:

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