The Responsibility
to Act Against Corruption
Remarks by
Hon. David Kilgour
MP for Edmonton Southeast and Secretary
of State (Asia-Pacific) to
Transparency Internationals Symposium,
Toward Effective Implementation of
the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention
at the Department of Foreign Affairs and
International Trade
Lester B.
Pearson Building, Ottawa, May 12, 2003
It should
go without saying - especially in this room
- that Transparency International (TI),
although only ten years old is already one
of the most respected NGOs on the planet.
For years, you and I have referred to its
reports and have seen the weight that theyve
earned internationally for their candour,
knowledge, and courage. That todays
symposium is being held in this building
honours the Department of Foreign Affairs
and International Trade. I hope it also
symbolizes the enhanced co-operation were
all working towards between TI Canada, TI
International, and all branches of the Canadian
government.
Let me say
at the outset that I personally fully share
the view of TI Canadas President,
Professor Wesley Cragg, that combatting
corruption internationally is in our national
and export interest. As he said earlier,
all the international studies indicated
that Canada is one of the least corrupt
countries on earth. We should take advantage
of our comparative advantage here. Countries
want us present in their economies because
we raise their business standards. Lets
show sustained leadership on this.
Secondly,
on possible action steps for improving the
effectiveness of the accounting, auditing
and internal control provisions of the OECD
convention, a couple of thoughts. First,
most of the prosecutions in the U.S. over
the past twenty years involving bribery
of foreign officials have been based on
breaches of very specific accounting provisions
of the U.S. law. Why?
Because it's
easier to prove (with evidence available
in the U.S.) than actual payment of the
bribe. In Canada, our law simply requires
that a company must maintain adequate accounting
records. In a recent OECD review of Canada's
implementation of the OECD convention, one
of several recommendations put forward by
the four large accounting firms (and the
CICA), and supported by TI was that the
federal government consider amending the
CBCA to include more specific books and
records requirements such as the prohibition
of 'off the books' accounts, false documentation,
etc., and address whether existing sanctions
are adequate.
On the subject
of Parliaments Role, you
could hardly find a more qualified contributor
than John Williams, MP for St Albert and
Chair of our House of Commons Public Accounts
Committee. John and I go back to Edmonton
in the 1970's, when he was the treasurer
of our church and we were both Progressive
Conservatives! Before that, he was at one
time a banker in Scotland, where rumour
has it that in his branch the last shilling
that went astray was in the time of Bonny
Prince Charlie.
Je ne doute
pas quil minimisera le leadership
remarquable dont il a fait preuve dans la
lutte contre la corruption. Il est de plus
en plus connu de par le monde pour la réussite
de lOrganisation mondiale des parlementaires
contre la corruption (OMPCC), fruit de ses
efforts. Cétait un honneur
que de prendre part à la première
réunion de lOMPCC lautomne
dernier, et une réelle source de
fierté que de savoir quun parlementaire
canadien était à lorigine
de cette réunion.
Parliaments
Role
Weve
been asked today to address the question,
What is Parliaments role in
fighting corruption?. In basic terms,
our own parliament has three functions:
representation (serving as a voice for Canadians),
legislative (making laws and shaping public
policy), and oversight (holding governments
accountable for their actions). While John
is going to elaborate on these roles and
on the success story that is GOPAC, Id
like to focus on some extra-parliamentary
responsibilities that we MPs have in the
fight against corruption.
1 - Reversing
Crisis of Confidence
First and
foremost, the burden lies with parliamentarians
in all political parties to reverse the
current drop in public confidence in politicians
and public institutions across Canada. As
TIs Chair, Peter Eigen, noted when
announcing last years Corruption Perceptions
Index, "There is a worldwide corruption
crisis." Many of you would probably
agree. Corruption is behind numerous societal
ills in many countries. It breeds mistrust
among the public. It chips away at the rule
of law. It scares away foreign direct investment
along with domestic savings, as the New
Partnership for Africas Development
(NEPAD) has recently addressed. In some
parts of the world, it encourages trafficking
in drugs and internal rebellion. Its
companions are inevitably violence, coercion,
and political and social unrest. Perhaps
worst of all, it sometimes lays the foundations
for societies that value privilege and power
over basic human needs - ones, for that
matter, that honour money, power and graft
at the expense of public integrity, openness
and truth.
In the same
TI report, Canada scored nine on a possible
ten, and we Canadians were proud to be the
only G8 country in the top ten ranking.
Yet, according to a survey done in Canada
at about the same time, fully 69% of Canadians
said our federal and provincial political
systems are corrupt. This certainly signals
a problem! Headlines describing the fall
of private sector giants like Enron and
Arthur Anderson have highlighted that corruption
isnt restricted to governments alone.
If corruption
is a mortal enemy of democracy, then trust
is one of its best shields. If elected Canadians
face an increasingly sceptical public and
more hesitant investors, we reduce our ability
to help Canadians to realize their full
potential. The time to turn this around
is now - and the responsibility to lead
the charge must lie with parliamentarians.
Why us?
Why us?
Because corruption cannot be fought effectively
without the political will to do so. As
lawmakers, we must be beyond reproach. We
cant demand standards of others that
were not prepared to live up to ourselves.
Without clean hands, what right
do we have to question the actions of others?
And what credibility do we have to pursue
issues our electors care about? If we want
to be effective at some of our most pressing
issues - sustainable development, poverty,
human rights, and peace - we need to first
ensure that rats are not quietly filling
the basements of our provincial and national
parliaments.
Le financement
politique, par exemple, est lune des
questions les plus importantes, quoique
souvent ignorée, partout dans le
monde. Lorsquelle nest pas abordée
de front, la crédibilité de
tous les parlementaires en souffre. La notion
de « meilleure démocratie que
peut procurer largent », et
lidée selon laquelle on peut,
avec de largent, avoir accès
au gouvernement et linfluencer, sont
beaucoup trop répandues et
je ninsinuerais jamais que le Canada
est à labri de telles allégations.
Each of
our key roles - our raisons dêtre
- are undermined when the public doesnt
have faith in how we got into office. Were
hardly representative of voters generally
if were only acting on behalf of those
with the most money. How meaningful is a
law when passed by those who break others?
And what credibility do we have in overseeing
government if our own houses arent
in order?
Campaign
Financing
It was for
these reasons that the government introduced
a campaign finance reform bill earlier this
year. Although some specifics have been
controversial, it was long overdue. For
the past three elections, Ive imposed
a limit in my own campaigns ($300 per person
or business in the first two and most recently
in 2000 a $500 limit) during an election,
and no fundraising between elections. This
has been helpful in keeping the trust of
residents of Edmonton Southeast.
As MPs,
we also need to demonstrate respect for
all working to enhance transparency and
accountability. The opposition, for example,
plays one of the most valuable roles here,
particularly the Public Accounts Committee.
Civil, dignified discourses and an openness
to sharing information in most situations
are achievable. NGOs also play enormously
valuable roles. In 1999, Im told that
TI helped this department mobilize the key
players needed to push through the Corruption
of Foreign Public Officials Act in just
six days! By acknowledging the importance
of this issue and demonstrating genuine
respect for the work they do, were
improving the system in a significant way.
2 - resisting
complacency
A second
area of MP responsibility lies in resisting
what Ill call the caretakers
of the status quo. Parliamentarians
can only be as effective as the tools they
have to do their jobs. Question Period,
reports submitted to Parliament by government
agencies, Public Accounts committees, and
more are all tools of transparency and accountability.
Its not enough for us to have created
these tools, however; we have a responsibility
to use them effectively. One observer describes
it well: The accomplice to the crime
of corruption is frequently our own indifference.
Reports
to Parliament, for example, arent
ends in themselves. They should be actively
scrutinized and responded to by the executive
branch when called for. We all have seemingly
endless streams of emails and papers coming
across our desks, but we have to consider
what kind of message were sending
to the MPs and other officials who write
these reports about how seriously we value
their work if, year after year, they receive
no feedback.
Some reports,
including the Auditor Generals, receive
a great deal of attention and elicit significant
responses - often because of committee structures.
Others are not so well noted. I understand
that for the past three years, DFAIT has
reported annually to parliament under the
Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act,
but, to my knowledge, Parliament has never
formally responded. What message does that
send?
En tant que
parlementaires, nous pouvons organiser des
audiences pour donner suite à des
rapports et ainsi attirer lattention
du public. Ces audiences permettent à
des intervenants clés une occasion
de sengager ou de continuer à
jouer un rôle. Elles rendent possible
la presentation de questions mettant lemphase
sur les préoccupations ou des remarques
faisant état de la satisfaction générale.
Prendre appui sur les rapports présentés
au Parlement pour aller de lavant
a non seulement lavantage daméliorer
le travail déjà accompli,
mais aussi celui dencourager ceux
qui rédigent ces rapports.
3 - Focus
on Prevention
A third key
responsibility of parliamentarians is to
prevent corruption before it occurs.
As the philosopher-author
Eric Hoffer 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, and it is found
in the rule of law, good governance, equitable
judicial systems, and healthy and educated
citizens. When we fight to eradicate poverty,
promote education for all and build strong
social infrastructures both at home and
around the world, we are also combatting
corruption.
Free, independent,
and responsible media are among the best
preventative measures around. Many of us
use the front page test when
making a decision. This means asking yourself,
How would I feel if I woke up tomorrow
and saw my actions written about on the
cover of a newspaper?. Theres
certainly value in having a healthy fear
that there are journalists out there working
busily to find the truth!
Finally,
while its important to focus on the
criminal side of the fight against corruption,
including the OECD Convention, the Corruption
of Foreign Public Officials Act, the Income
Tax Act, UN Conventions, and many others,
its often too easy to look solely
to such instruments to measure success.
Parliamentarians are sometimes especially
guilty of wanting quick answers - to point
to criminal charges and convictions to show
our constituents exactly how effective were
being. In the past 30 years in the United
States, there have only been about 30 prosecutions
under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices
Act. Since Canada introduced the Corruption
of Foreign Public Officials Act, weve
had only one case in which charges have
been laid. Does that mean these are irrelevant
or that weve failed our roles? Absolutely
not! I like to think that much of the work
done in promoting corporate social responsibility
with both businesses and consumers, for
example, plays a big part in maintaining
integrity.
Communicate,
communicate, communicate!
Its
not enough to engage in the fight against
corruption. We have to share it! What all
of this comes down to is communicating in
an open and frank manner.
Good communication
starts by creating laws, guidelines, and
measures that are as easy to understand
and as accessible as possible. The late
John Wayne described a very common attitude
when he said, ...corruption
masquerade(s)
as ambiguity. I dont like ambiguity.
I dont trust ambiguity. Technology
has also now given us the tools to reach
out.
As parliamentarians,
we have the opportunity to embrace technology
as a tool of transparency, accessibility
and responsiveness. To push for Canadian
leadership in e-government, for example,
to post our positions, activities, and news
online, and to use any or all of the other
information communication technology to
demonstrate our openness.
Communication
also means a lot of networking. We now have
a more formalized structure to provide peer
support - to share best practices with the
international community and the private
sector and to help publicize stories of
those sacrificing their careers and sometimes
even putting their lives at risk to fight
corruption. GOPAC is a prime example. As
are the Third Global Forum on Fighting Corruption
and Safeguarding Integrity (Global Forum
III) and the 11th International Anti-Corruption
Conference (11th IACC), to which many of
us are going in two weeks. As representatives
from the NGO community, the RCMP, Auditor
General and public service integrity offices,
CCRA, CIDA and DFAIT, well not only
be communicating with other nations, but
advancing the holistic approach to combatting
corruption that Wesley Cragg called for
this morning.
Le colloque
daujourdhui, symbolise bien
sûr aussi la communication nécessaire
pour faire en sorte que le Canada reste
lun des pays les mieux considérés
dans cette lutte mondiale. Vous jouez un
rôle central dans lun des dossiers
de première importance de notre époque.
Je vous félicite pour votre travail,
et ne laissez pas les « gardiens du
statu quo » vous ralentir.
Merci/thank
you.
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