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Parliamentarians United: Putting Principles First

Remarks by the Hon. David Kilgour,

Secretary of State (Asia-Pacific) and Member of Parliament for Edmonton Southeast

to the Welcome Reception for the Inaugural Meeting

of the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption

Marriott Hotel, Ottawa

October 13, 2002

Excellencies, fellow Parliamentarians, honoured guests. It's excellent to see so many of you here tonight. As you can see, we're an incredibly diverse group. I understand we have more than 250 delegates and observers from over 60 countries around the world!

On behalf of John Williams and the Parliamentary Centre, welcome to the inaugural meeting of the Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption (GOPAC). The feeling of excitement is hard to miss. We are witnessing the birth of a very promising organization.

Allow me to thank John Williams, M.P., and Robert Miller, Executive Director of the Parliamentary Centre, for their vision, dedication, commitment and drive. Their efforts have been made possible by the generous support of the World Bank in Washington and the Canadian International Development Agency. But the key drivers, of course, are all of you. You are the ones who will make this happen.

Why Parliamentarians?

Some of you may be thinking: Why us? Why leave it to the parliamentarians to combat corruption? John Williams put it well. There is a wealth of resources, he notes, on the subject of corruption. Organizations like Transparency International, the OECD, and the Council of Europe have studied it and offered recommendations. But as John rightly points out: "That research needs a voice in order to implement recommendations. Who is that has the mandate to do that? It is the parliamentarians."

It's also because, as John adds, Parliament plays a unique role in any properly functioning democracy. "Many confuse Parliament with government, but they are two distinct and independent institutions," he writes. Unless government is held accountable, "leaders with too much power tend to use it for their own ends..." That, again, is where each of us comes in.

But it's not just our "role"; it's also our duty. As Theodore Roosevelt of the United States said over a hundred years ago, "No man who is corrupt, no man who condones corruption in others, can possibly do his duty to the community." That, too, is why each of you is here today, many of you having flown here from the four corners of the earth. You're here because, as parliamentarians, you each have a duty to the people and the communities you serve. Whether you're from Africa, Asia, the Americas or Europe, you're here because you share a belief that, as public office holders, we have to be beyond reproach. We have to instil confidence in some very disillusioned publics; we need earn their trust and rebuild their faith.

And it's not a moment too soon. As Peter Eigen noted when announcing the Corruption Perceptions Index as chair of Transparency International last year: "There is a worldwide corruption crisis." Many of you here would agree. Corruption is behind many societal ills. It breeds mistrust among the public. It chips away at the rule of law. It scares away foreign direct investment and impedes our ability to effect real change. In some parts of the world, it breeds trafficking in drugs. It's part and parcel with violence, coercion, and political and social unrest. Worst of all, it lays the foundation for communities that value privilege and power over basic human needs - communities, for that matter, that honour money, power and graft at the expense of decency, integrity, openness and truth.

Gopac’s Role

As an organization of parliamentarians, GOPAC will focus on fighting corruption within government, but allow me, for a moment, to say a word about the larger picture. We have an opportunity here to set an example, both for other countries and for societies at large. We can use this opportunity to send an unequivocal message that corruption will not be tolerated ... in any form.

Whether it's a minister who awards a contract to a friend, an official who withholds a licence for a bribe, a police officer who turns a blind eye to a crime, or an accounting scandal that grabs headlines around the world, we can no longer afford to look the other way. Tolerance is no better than the deed itself. La tolérance ne vaut pas mieux que l’acte lui-même.

Corruption, as we all know, isn’t limited to government. We need to look no further than the recent corporate scandals in the United States. The recent fall of private sector giants - like Andersen Consulting and Enron - has garnered headlines around the globe, but it has also shaken investors to their core. Businesses too are feeling the public scorn, and they too are looking for solutions. Some companies are enacting codes of ethics. Others are scrutinizing the transparency of government and the human rights records in the countries where they invest. My point here is simple: we can learn from each other. We can work together on best practices everywhere.

But let me return to the task at hand. As parliamentarians, we all have issues we want to pursue. One thing is clear: we need to do it with "clean hands" and we need to do it with the interests of future generations in mind. If we want to be effective at some of our most pressing issues - sustainable development, poverty, human rights, and peace - we need to first get our own houses in order. I'm delighted to see so many of you here ready to take up that challenge.

In Closing

Permit me to close with the words of Eric Hoffer, a social philosopher and author who writes.:

"It has often been said that power corrupts. But it is perhaps equally

important to realize that weakness, too, corrupts. Power corrupts the few, while weakness corrupts the many. Hatred, malice, rudeness, intolerance, and suspicion are the faults of weakness..."

The opposite of weakness is strength. That is what you're showing here today - strength in numbers, strength across borders, strength in your commitment to fight corruption around the world.

The opposite of corruption is more elusive. It is a state of being that encompasses honesty and truth. But it's much more than that. It's transparency, openness, equity, justice ... accountability, good governance, fairness, pride ... Pride in our institutions, pride in our jobs, pride in our countries and the goals we've chosen to pursue.

I hope that, as you turn your minds to developing the priorities and mandate of GOPAC over the next few days, you can draw inspiration from what we hope to achieve - a world in which corruption and conflict are replaced by honesty and peace.

Again, thank you all for coming, and a special thanks to the organizers, John Williams and Robert Miller. You have a busy schedule ahead of you, with plenty of time for discussion and debate. I look forward to hearing about it and wish you all the best.

Muchas gracias y buenas noches.