Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives notes the Protection Mechanism in Mexico at House of Commons committee presentation

Published by Brent Patterson on October 10, 2025October 10, 2025

On October 9, Stuart Trew, senior researcher at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) and director of the CCPA’s Trade and Investment Research Project (TIRP), presented to the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade (CIIT).

Trew noted in his presentation:

“In light of the new Canada-Mexico Action Plan, I think it would be beneficial to strengthen cooperation with Mexico in areas like human rights as well by supporting the Protection Mechanism for human rights defenders and journalists which is under the jurisdiction of the Mexican government. This benefits Canadian businesses by giving them greater assurances that their Mexican operations are not going to be involved perhaps involuntarily in human rights violations.”

Trew also highlighted the need to strengthen the investigative powers of the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) in response to a question from Bloc Quebecois Member of Parliament Claude DeBellefeuille.

The Committee on International Trade is composed of ten Members of Parliament.

Espacio OSC, accompanied by the Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project and Peace Brigades International-Canada, recently met with two members of this Committee, Chair Judy Sgro and Vice-Chair Pierre-Simon Savard-Tremblay, to also highlight the importance of the Protection Mechanism.

Espacio OSC meets with Liberal MP Judy Sgro.

Espacio OSC meets with Bloc Quebecois MP Pierre-Simon Savard-Tremblay.

Notably, the Government of Canada has previously also expressed concern about the Protection Mechanism during the United Nations (UN) Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Mexico and made recommendations for its strengthening.

At the UN UPR session held on January 24, 2024, Canada recommended that Mexico: “Strengthen, from an intersectional and gender perspective, the federal Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, specifically in the areas of prevention, protection, investigation, and reparation.”

Prior to this session, Canada had also asked Mexico: “How will the new General law to respect, protect, guarantee, and promote the rights of human rights defenders and journalists address key challenges under the current mechanism, including in achieving results, improving federal-state-municipal cooperation, and promoting prevention of violence against human rights defenders and journalists?”

During their recent visit to Ottawa, representatives from Espacio OSC reminded officials at Global Affairs Canada that Canada has taken this position on the Protection Mechanism and encouraged them to follow-up on this.

We continue to follow this.

Further reading: In its overview of the visit to Canada, Espacio OSC published “Espacio OSC promoted a political agenda for the protection of defenders and journalists in Mexico in Canada” that notes: “In dialogue with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and academics at Carleton University, analyses were exchanged on the contexts of structural violence, collective protection strategies and the need to incorporate the feminist and community perspective in protection policies.”