Conservatives outline plan for ‘bold’ new international human rights agenda | CBC News

The announcement comes as many predict the Liberal government will trigger an early election within weeks.

“Helping newcomers maximize their success by allowing them to work in their field of knowledge will be good for Canada, good for the economy and, most importantly, good for these workers and their families,” said O’Toole in a media release.

Canada already has programs that allow skilled workers to speed up their immigration applications if they meet certain requirements, but critics say it’s still difficult for many of those workers to immigrate and find work in their fields.

A Conservative government would create a new credential recognition task force to improve that process, the party said today.

Among the other proposals announced by the Conservatives is a plan to revise supply chain management legislation in order to stop the importation of goods made with slave labour.

Goods coming to Canada tied to what human rights experts describe as “modern slavery” include some seafood harvested in Southeast Asia and some personal protective equipment produced during the pandemic.

The Conservatives are proposing also to make it harder for human rights abusers to come to Canada and to make it a criminal offence for Canadians to participate in human rights abuses abroad.

The Tories listed organ harvesting and trafficking as examples of activities in need of more severe punishment.

O’Toole said if he’s elected prime minister, he’ll also call for the creation of a new international human rights committee, which the Conservatives say would be composed of a “broad range of cultural and religious communities in Canada.”