Human rights lawyers are calling on Ottawa to ban American imports that stem from forced labour linked to automotive firms using prisoner work in Alabama, under the same law meant to block products made through exploitative practices in China.

 

"Forced or coercive labour can exist anywhere when people lack real choice protection or power," said Sandra Wisner, director of the International Human Rights Program at the University of Toronto.

 

"Discussions about forced labour tend to focus on global supply chains in the Global South, so in factories in Southeast Asia or agricultural fields in Latin America. But the use of forced or prison labour in the U.S., including under deeply coercive and abusive conditions, receives far less attention, especially here in Canada."