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Human rights advocates said it would be impossible to effectively investigate corporate misconduct allegations without such powers, and accused the Liberal government of backing off of earlier commitments to provide such powers.

“The investigations this office needs to do are critical,” said Catherine Coumans, a research co-ordinator at Mining Watch Canada. “This office needs to get to the bottom of the facts, and can’t rely on ‘he said, she said’.”

Coumans said that when the Liberals announced their intention to create the ombudsperson position, back in January 2018, she viewed it as an upgrade to the existing position of a “corporate responsibility counsellor” because she believed the new office would possess authority to compel testimony or subpoena documents.

She noted that Global Affairs Canada has posted a frequently asked questions section about the ombudsperson office on its website. In one question and answer, the government said it was committed to providing the office with such powers. But by Monday, that language had been removed.

“It’s pretty clear what happened if you look at the lobby registry,” she said. “They’ve been lobbied to death.”

Online records, for instance, show that the Mining Association of Canada lobbied extensively on “international trade” issues.

It’s pretty clear what happened if you look at the lobby registry Catherine Coumans, a research co-ordinator at Mining Watch Canada

Ben Chalmers, acting president of MAC, said that his organization does not support the investigative powers that the Coumans and other human rights advocates want, and instead believes the ombudsman should help bring dispute resolution.