Foreign Affairs Committee on April 30th, 2012
Evidence of meeting #34 for Foreign Affairs and International Development in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was countries.
A recording is available from Parliament.
On the agenda
MPs speaking
Also speaking
- Stephen Foster Director, Commercial Crime Branch, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
- Gisèle Rivest Officer in Charge, Operations of National Interest and International Corruption, Commercial Crime Branch, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
- Christopher Dunford Senior Research Fellow, Freedom from Hunger
3:55 p.m.
Director, Commercial Crime Branch, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
There are quite a number of offences in the Criminal Code that relate to fraud.
3:55 p.m.
Conservative
The Chair Dean Allison
Thanks, Mr. Eyking.
We're going to start our second round, which will be five minutes, and we're going to start over with Ms. Brown.
April 30th, 2012 / 3:55 p.m.
Conservative
Lois Brown Newmarket—Aurora, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'm going to be very quick, Mr. Foster, because I know that my colleague has some questions, too.
I have been in some countries where there have been some questionable practices. In fact, when I checked into a hotel in one country, I was told if I wanted to see money exchange hands to come downstairs at 2 o'clock in the morning, and bags of money would exchange hands. I could watch it.
I guess my question really is, what needs to be in place for anti-corruption strategies to work, and how can Canada be helpful in assisting developing countries to put in place anti-corruption strategies?
I'll turn it over to my colleague and let him put his questions, and maybe we can wrap all of these in together. Is that okay? Is he going to have time?
3:55 p.m.
Conservative
3:55 p.m.
Conservative
3:55 p.m.
Director, Commercial Crime Branch, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Your question was, what needs to be in place?
3:55 p.m.
Conservative
Lois Brown Newmarket—Aurora, ON
What needs to be in place for anti-corruption strategies to work, and how can Canada help developing countries build anti-corruption strategies?
3:55 p.m.
Director, Commercial Crime Branch, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
If I understand, your question is quite broad, but I think the United Nations Convention against Corruption is an anti-corruption strategy. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, their anti-bribery convention is also part of a strategy.
The cooperation between enforcement, government, and the private sector are the things that need to be in place, and they seem to be coming in to place, if I understood your question.
3:55 p.m.
Conservative
Lois Brown Newmarket—Aurora, ON
As the RCMP, are you available if a request comes from a government to assist in capacity building? That's one of the things that Canada is doing, and doing well. I've met with other parliamentarians in other countries, in developing countries, where they're asking for assistance in building the structures they need, and Canada has been generous in giving that assistance.
Is the RCMP available through any kind of a mechanism to assist in giving them that kind of direction?
3:55 p.m.
Director, Commercial Crime Branch, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
To the extent that the RCMP has been asked, where it has been possible, we have assisted with capacity building. For example, in relation to Mexican authorities, we provided them with the expertise of one individual from the commercial crime branch to assist them in creating their own course, using their own laws, using their own subject matter. We provided them with the expertise to build their own course in their own context.
In relation to China, we've provided them with ongoing assistance in terms of understanding how Canada delivers its international anti-corruption program in terms of the enforcement side, with the two dedicated teams that we have and a focus on not only the enforcement but preventing, detecting, investigating, and prosecuting.
4 p.m.
Conservative
Lois Brown Newmarket—Aurora, ON
In cooperation with those strategies, do we need to see judicial systems in place as well?
4 p.m.
Director, Commercial Crime Branch, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Could you slightly elaborate on your question?
4 p.m.
Conservative
Lois Brown Newmarket—Aurora, ON
Pinpointing anti-corruption is of no assistance to a developing country if there aren't mechanisms to prosecute that. So having judicial systems in place...I expect you would need to see that working as well.
4 p.m.
Director, Commercial Crime Branch, Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Yes. You would need to see that working as well. That is part of the work that's done by the United Nations in relation to the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.
And the OECD's anti-bribery working group does peer reviews. Part of that peer review process is a review of the enforcement side, the prosecution side, to make sure there are laws in place that criminalize domestic corruption and international corruption in terms of bribing a foreign public official.
4 p.m.
Conservative