In the past week Transparency International Canada and our partner organizations have been making continued strides towards establishing a centralized public registry of beneficial ownership in Canada.

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.

Toronto – Today, Finance Minister Morneau announced the Federal Government’s call for consultation on ‘Tax Planning Using Private Corporations’. This consultation follows Minister Morneau’s recent public statement that recognizes that anonymous beneficial ownership of corporations are harming Canada by allowing the flow of dirty money domestically and from overseas.

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.”

On July 3rd 2015, the Department of Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) introduced its revamped procurement Integrity Regime. The Regime replaces the former Integrity Framework, which had been subject to criticism. Transparency International Canada had provided its recommendations on how the Integrity Framework could be improved.

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’.