Canada worst in G7 on anti corruption enforcement

Huguette Labelle said a large number of OECD countries have insufficient anti bribery enforcement

Canada is the worst in G7 when it comes to cracking down on corruption, according to a report released by Transparency International (TI) on 24th May.

The report, entitled “TI Progress Report on Enforcement of the OECD Convention”, put Canada in the group of countries with “little or no enforcement” of bribery standards sets up by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Canada is the only G7 country that has been stuck at the bottom of bribery-fighting rankings since TI began its annual report in 2005.

The report, which covers 37 countries, says there there are only seven countries with active enforcement of the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention. There are nine with moderate enforcement and 21 with little to no enforcement.

The seven countries that are actively enforcing are Denmark, Germany, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, the UK and the US.

This is the first time in the seven years the report has been published that no progress has been made in the number of countries enforcing the Convention.

“Unless there is strong political will to take this on as an important issue, Canada and other countries that are laggards will remain behind,” said Huguette Labelle, the chair of TI and a former Canadian minister.

TI's criticism echoed a report published by the OECD last March which raised “significant concerns” about Canada's “problematic” anti-bribery efforts.

Canada's main legislation on foreign corruption, the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act, became law 1998, but since then, there has only been one conviction.

The US, on the other hand, has prosecuted more than 200 companies and individuals under its Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

The TI report highlighted a number of glaring flaws in Canada's anti-bribery laws, most importantly a lack of power for authorities to go after Canadian individuals and companies abroad. TI also warned that the RCMP's Anti-Corruption Unit had inadequate resources.

Canada is one of a number of countries that explicitly permits 'facilitation payments', and there are no strict rules for maintaining 'accurate books and records'.

While Canada is regarded as one of the least corrupt countries in the world – it was ranked sixth best in the world in TI's 2010 Corruption Perceptions Index – one should not assume that there is no corruption taking place.

Canada risks developing a reputation as not being tough enough on stopping corruption and bribery by businesses and individuals working overseas, especially in light of the positive steps many other countries are taking.

Sources: Globe & Mail, Ottawa Citizen, The Mark News, Transparency International

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