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The bonanza for the legal community could be substantial. 2018 may go down with Canadian lawyers as the year of the kangaroo. Public companies will likely have to disclose the material risks of possible allegations in securities filings. Accused companies will need legal representation, and there will be no shortage of frivolous allegations from organizations with their own agendas, such as NGOs seeking to stop projects altogether. Lawyers stand to profit from class-action lawsuits. There will also likely be libel lawsuits against the federal government settled at taxpayer expense.

Small companies are advised by the federal government’s website that they can protect themselves from investigations by following the human-rights standards laid out in UN and OECD guidelines. From briefly skimming these long dense documents, it is clear that they were drafted by international bureaucrats who are not in tune with the real world. In summary, these standards state that it is not enough to be free of association with human-rights abuses. Companies must subject themselves to a monumental compliance burden to show this to be the case.

Many Canadian companies may decide their best option would be to avoid doing business abroad or to leave Canada altogether. For instance, many exploration and mining companies are based in Canada but only operate in other parts of the world. It would be easy for these companies to relocate their head offices. With other recent policy changes such as a higher personal income tax rates, relocation may prove to be a no-brainer.

The CORE was described in the news release as the first of its kind in the world. It may be a long time before other jurisdictions follow suit. In promoting this ombudsman for business abroad, Canada’s trade minister has talked about the Canadian brand, using the beaver as a symbol of its value. Perhaps a kangaroo with a backdrop of a maple leaf will prove to be more appropriate.

Neil Mohindra is a public policy consultant based in Toronto.