The Canada Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) released its first final report this week after a complaint filed in 2022 against Vancouver company Dynasty Gold. Reuters reports that the complaint came from a coalition of 28 human rights groups including the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project and Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights. It claimed that the company benefited from the use of Uyghur forced labor at a mine in China in which they held a majority interest.

The resulting report documents evidence of pervasive use of forced labor at the mine and that Dynasty had “contributed to that forced labor through its relationship with its joint venture partners in the mine,” and asks that Ottawa cut off all future trade support for the company.

Checking the links in the chain

As recently as April 2022 Dynasty had reasserted its position in a press release as a majority shareholder in a joint venture with Chinese state-owned Xinjiang Non-Ferrous Metal (XFN). CORE’s finding was based partly on evidence from the international community, including that of then UN high commissioner for human rights Michelle Bachelet, who following her visit to the region, stated that China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims may amount to crimes against humanity.

Speaking about the report’s findings CORE ombudsperson Sheri Meyerhoffer said in a statement for the Globe and Mail:

“There is clear evidence that Uyghur forced labor was used at the Hatu gold mine, like all Canadian companies operating outside Canada, Dynasty has a responsibility to respect human rights. In this case, Dynasty failed to operate responsibly.”

Documented evidence, an admission by Dynasty’s joint venture partners on participation in forced labor schemes by the People’s Republic of China (PRC), and proof of receiving labor through this scheme for the Hatu mine site led to CORE’s conclusions in the report.

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