On November 17, Transparency International Canada (TI Canada) submitted reports in response to Public Services and Procurement Canada’s (PSPC) open consultation between September 25 and November 17, 2017 on integrity regimes and deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs).

Dr. Wes Cragg very sadly died, on August 26, after an illness detected only a few months ago. Bronwyn Best, former Senior Advisor to TI-Canada, and Laurence Cockcroft of TI (UK) offer this appreciation of his work for the struggle against corruption and, in particular, for TI.

The First Ministers will be gathering in Edmonton at the annual meeting of the Council of the Federation on July 17-19, 2017. The issue of who owns our corporations and trusts needs to be a priority on their agenda.

TORONTO – White collar crime enforcement is chronically low in Canada and law enforcement officials need additional tools to support their efforts. Based on this, a new report from Transparency International Canada (TI Canada) recommends the Government of Canada consider adopting a Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPAs).

TI Canada was invited to by the Committee of Experts (CoE) of the Organization of American Sates (OAS) Mechanism for Follow-Up on the Implementation of the Inter-American Convention against Corruption (MESICIC) to make during an onsite visit in Ottawa on April 25-27. The review is in accordance with the Methodology for Conducting On-site Visits (Methodology) adopted by its States Parties

Transparency International-Canada is pleased with the decision by the Ontario Supreme Court to sentence Nazir Karigar to three years in prison term for his role in a plan to bribe officials in India.

Board member of TI Canada and partner at Denton’s Canada, Paul Lalonde, commented on the recent Ontario Securities Commission announcement that it is interested in adopting a whistle-blower program. The OSC proposes to offer whistle-blowers financial rewards for coming forth with timely an credible information that leads to the imposition of monetary sanctions.

TI Canada’s Executive Director Alesia Nahirny and several TI Canada Board Members participated in an event organized by the Institute for Research for Research on Public Policy “Assessing Canada’s Policies on the Integrity Framework and Corporate Wrongdoing.”

TI Canada’s Interim-Executive Director was interviewed on CBC’s ‘On the Money’ (interview starts at 5:26) to discuss the fallout of FINTRAC not naming Manulife Bank for fines of $1.15 million. Manulife Bank, a division of Manulife Financial, was fined for failing report obligations on many transactions. Manulife Bank has claimed that its failure to flag the bank transfers, including those deemed to be suspicious, were due to ‘administrative errors’.

TI Canada active member Denis Meunier was featured in the Toronto Star where he commented on the issues associated with the Ottawa’s first comprehensive reform of corporate law in more than a decade, Bill C-25.

This article was originally published in The Toronto Star on January 25, 2017 as ‘Don’t let Canada become haven for tax dodgers’ (link here).