My name is Kassandra, and I am a global citizen.

As a young person living in Canada, I enjoy freedoms that protect my right to a safe future, a future I have the ability to choose. I find it heartbreaking that girls and boys globally do not have these same opportunities. 152 million children continue to be exploited through child labour to provide the clothes we wear, the electronics we use, and the food we eat. Every purchase we make could contribute to robbing an innocent child of their childhood.

Right now, as Canadians, it’s impossible for us to be informed consumers because of a lack of supply chain transparency. We need to demand better from the companies we buy from, and from our government. We need legislation to end all forms of child labour.

Why do we need to act now?

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development has released a report looking at the connection between child labour and the products and services that Canadians buy. This report includes a recommendation to introduce a law that will motivate businesses to eliminate the use of child labour in their global supply chains.

The Government of Canada is reviewing the report right now and is preparing its formal response for February 2019. This is a crucial time to let our Government know that you support supply chain legislation.

Let’s call on the Government of Canada to develop a law requiring companies in Canada to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address child labour, modern slavery and human rights risks in their operations and global supply chains.

Similar laws have already been adopted in the United Kingdom, Australia, France, and the United States, pushing companies to take action and providing information to the public so that they can choose which products and services to purchase, and which companies need to do more. It is time for Canada to catch up.

Every day, our purchases as Canadians could make us complicit in the exploitation of children globally. I don’t want to use products made at the expense of children. Do you?

Join me in signing this petition - because one child exploited is one child too many.