One positive outcome from the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh, nearly two years ago, is that a growing number of people have begun questioning where their clothes come from, who makes them, and under what conditions.
Even the Canadian Federal Government has finally bowed to public pressure and put together a special task force that, according to The Star, will research “where and what kind of factories the garments are manufactured in” and then recommend options “to enhance procurement practices with regard to ethical sourcing of apparel.”
Public Works and Government Services is the department responsible for buying uniforms for a broad range of federal services, including the Canadian Armed Forces, Canada Border Services Agencies, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Parks Canada, Correctional Services Canada, and the Department of Fisheries, etc. If a contract is worth more than $25,000 it is administered by Public Works.
Due to security concerns, clothing made for the RCMP and Department of National Defence must be made in Canada. As a result, 98 percent of the $677 million spent on clothing in the past five years has stayed within the country; but The Star reports that other departments do not face the same sourcing restrictions. They can get their uniforms through contractors that source in countries such as Bangladesh, Cambodia, Mexico, China, Thailand, Taiwan, Pakistan, and Vietnam – all of which have garment industries with questionable safety and workers’ rights standards.
