Liberal MP John McKay says that, from what he has seen, about 38 per cent of companies acknowledged there was some risk of forced labour.

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McKay has announced his retirement, but said he would ultimately like to see responsibility for these [forced labour] reports transferred to the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise, a government agency charged with reviewing complaints about Canadian companies work outside of the country.

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McKay said he also intends to table legislation that would require companies to take a reverse onus approach to goods from certain areas where forced labour is considered high risk, like the Xinjiang region of China.

Several companies, including the Hudson’s Bay Company, mentioned in their filings that they do not take cotton from the Xinjiang region or from Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan because of the risk.

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McKay said beyond the moral imperative there is a real trade risk to Canada if the issue isn’t addressed.