A federal judge has ruled that Canada’s corporate ethics watchdog has no legal authority to enforce its findings, dealing a blow to unions challenging Mark’s Work Wearhouse over Bangladeshi labour practices.Federal Court Justice Patrick Gleeson said the cabinet-appointed Ombudsman for Responsible Enterprise, Musad Husain, is “essentially an advisor” whose reports carry no legal weight. “The Ombudsman has no authority to compel participation in a review or impose consequences,” Gleeson wrote.Blacklock's Reporter said Husain’s final report, released December 23, dismissed complaints that Mark’s contracted goods from Bangladeshi factories where workers earned the equivalent of $113 a month. The report noted there is no international consensus on what constitutes a living wage and said other organizations, such as the International Labour Organization, are better equipped to address the issue..The Canadian Labour Congress and United Steelworkers had sought judicial review after the ombudsman cleared Mark’s. Union lawyers argued the retailer was obliged to “ensure their suppliers in Bangladesh pay a living wage,” but the court agreed the ombudsman’s findings were advisory only and do not create enforceable legal obligations.The office, created in 2018 with a $259,000-a-year salary for the Ombudsman, was intended to investigate allegations of unethical conduct by Canadian companies abroad. .Critics say it has been largely ineffectual.Then-Ombudsman Sheri Meyerhoffer admitted in 2021 that her office had not conducted a single investigation in its first two years, citing jurisdictional limits and procedural hurdles.New Democrat MP Heather McPherson called the office a “greatly hyped initiative” that has failed to deliver meaningful oversight.
