CANADA EDGES UP IN LIST OF LEAST CORRUPT NATIONS – BUT STILL NOT BACK IN TOP TEN TIER
For Canadians there is good news and bad news in today’s release of Transparency International’s 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI).
The good news: Canada has moved up to 76 points and 12th place after scoring 74 points and ranking 14th last year.
The bad news: We have still not returned to the top ten least corrupt list that Canada consistently ranked in prior to 2019.
OTTAWA: Today, Bill C-42 successfully received Royal Assent, paving the way for Canada to have a publicly accessible registry that lists the ultimate beneficial owners of companies. Earlier last month, Senate members heard from the ‘End Snow-washing’ Coalition: Publish What You Pay Canada, Transparency International Canada, and Canadians For Tax Fairness who provided a strong endorsement for the legislation and urged members to ensure it gets through Canada’s Senate without delay. Yesterday, the bill successfully passed all stages of reading in Canada’s Parliament and today it received Royal Assent.
Transparency International Canada (TI Canada) continues to identify the inadequate level of enforcement for corruption offences as the greatest barrier to combatting corruption in Canada. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) signalled its agreement with this in its Phase IV report on Canada’s implementation of the Anti-Bribery Convention, calling enforcement “exceedingly low”. Almost 25 years after the adoption of the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act (CFPOA), Canada’s criminal law prohibiting foreign bribery, charges have been laid in only nine cases – a paltry number especially considering the size and dominant industry sector of Canada’s economy.
This report discusses the challenges and opportunities associated with resource development in the province and the importance of transparency and accountability in the environmental assessment (EA) process.
Toronto, August 16, 2023 - Transparency International Canada (TI Canada) is concerned with the findings in the Ontario Auditor General’s special report on changes to the Greenbelt. TI Canada is a staunch proponent of the need for transparency in government processes and that matters such as these should be conducted in a consultative manner.
After three years of expert testimony and insight from two-hundred witnesses, the British Columbia Cullen Commission released its final report. A key win in the report is the recommendation for British Columbia to work with the federal government to create a centralized, beneficial ownership registry that is world-class, and would eventually cover the entire country.
Transparency International Canada’s Executive Director, James Cohen, was invited to attend a press conference for the introduction of legislation to increase Ontario real estate. The Anti-Money Laundering in Housing Act, proposed by Ontario NDP Housing critic Jessica Bell (University-Rosedale), and MPP Bhutila Karpoche would require corporations, trusts, and partnerships that own real estate to disclose individual owners, with failure to comply resulting in fines of up to $100,000.
Canadiens pour une fiscalité équitable, Transparency International Canada et Publish What You Pay Canada exhortent Innovation, Sciences et Développement économique Canada (ISDE) de publier dans les plus brefs délais les résultats des consultations menées à l’hiver 2020 concernant la possibilité d’établir un registre public sur la propriété effective des sociétés afin de résoudre le problème de blanchiment d’argent, dit « blanchiment neige », au Canada.
Canadians For Tax Fairness, Transparency International Canada, and Publish What You Pay Canada are calling upon the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) to immediately publish the results of its consultation from winter 2020 about how a publicly accessible registry listing beneficial ownership information for private corporations can address Canada’s money laundering or “snow-washing” problem.
