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In 2004 and 2005, MSN and our coalition partners coordinated Canadian efforts in the international Play Fair at the Olympics campaign, calling on the Olympic movement to adopt ethical licensing policies for sportswear products and on sportswear suppliers to improve their labour standards and implement those standards.
As a result of those efforts, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) entered into discussions with the Ethical Trading Action Group about the possibility of adopting an ethical licensing policy, and then-Canadian Olympic supplier, Roots, made some improvement in its code of conduct and began the process of applying for membership in the Fair Labor Association (FLA).
MSN and our Canadian coalition partners continue to work with the international PlayFair 2008 campaign to pressure the International Olympic Committee to ensure that makers of Olympic-branded goods respect internationally-recognized labour standards.
Vancouver will be the host of the 2010 Winter Olympics. The Vancouver Organizing Committee (VANOC) has developed an initial program to require environmental, labour rights and aboriginal employment standards for its purchasing and licensing. MSN and its Canadian partners are now consulting with VANOC to improve their initial program by making it more comprehensive, effective and transparent. We are also advocating for a permanent policy by the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
MSN is also engaging directly with Olympic sportswear suppliers, including the current uniform supplier for the Canadian Olympic Team, the Hudson's Bay Company, encouraging them to improve their labour standards compliance programs and public reporting in order to meet the standards in a VANOC and COC ethical licensing policy.
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