Foreign Affairs committee  No, in fact the law that we're speaking about.... If they're charged in that country, then by definition the law has caught up with them. The real question is if we become aware that there is a Canadian in a foreign country who has used either money or goods or gifts or other ways to make a profit on a deal; if we become aware of that—

Foreign Affairs committee  If we do hear that there's something going on, we have an obligation, one, to inform the RCMP.... Any investigation is done by the RCMP. We are not investigators. We merely pass on that kind of information. Clearly, if a company is under investigation in a foreign jurisdiction, we would pass that on to the RCMP.

Foreign Affairs committee  One of our trained officers wants to put a word in here.

Foreign Affairs committee  I'm not an expert in U.S. law, so I can't speak for their situation. My understanding is that you'd have to be listed on the Securities and Exchange Commission to be caught by their situation. The international humanitarian organizations we have been dealing with do not find a problem with the 30 or 40 other countries that already have a prohibition on facilitation payments.

Foreign Affairs committee  You raise a very important question, because changing culture means educating people, not only making them aware, but making it part of their daily DNA of functioning. We're very concerned that this come from the top; therefore, we train from the top. We have just completed two weeks of head-of-mission training, which is what we call “ambassador school”, where we send our future heads of mission off for two weeks of intensive torture.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you. That's a very important question. It's one that did come up in the other place as well. I'm going to ask Marcus if he would repeat that. We don't speak for the RCMP, but we certainly listen to them and we can repeat what they say.

Foreign Affairs committee  You raised a number of very important questions, and I think one of the key things is to remember that we should stop beating ourselves up. We're a country with a great reputation. We have a population that believes in these things, for the most part. We are in the top percentage of those who adhere to these values.

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you for that. I wouldn't mind getting Marcus, who has been immersed in some of these things, to just give us a few thoughts as well.

Foreign Affairs committee  Let me say this—and I think we have this in common with other countries. We're not going to put Canadians into risk situations, such that if they're sitting in a bus somewhere and an odd fellow comes along and says that if you don't give me $20 you can't get out of here. I don't the Government of Canada is interested in putting people's lives in danger for $20.

Foreign Affairs committee  Exactly.

Foreign Affairs committee  Absolutely. There are very few countries that allow facilitation payments. I mentioned the four of them. The reason the U.S. still has it on its books is because it gets around that in a very serious way. I'm going to ask Marcus Davies to just give us a very brief analysis of why the Americans, regardless of whether they have it on their books, are still much stronger than we are.

Foreign Affairs committee  What we are doing is joining the vast majority of other countries in basically ruling out facilitation payments, together with Australia, which is now looking at doing the same thing as Canada, and New Zealand, which is in a similar position and probably will be along the same track soon.

Foreign Affairs committee  Maybe I can condense it, because it's starting to feel like a law school exam again. The reality is, absolutely. Let me also put it in context. You're not dealing with just some amorphous working group on bribery sitting in the basement of a building in Paris. We're actually dealing with peer review by our colleagues.

Foreign Affairs committee  In my third hour of response to Mr. Dechert, I'll get to a number of these questions.

Foreign Affairs committee  I'm sorry, that's an issue you would have to put to the judiciary. I'm not able to answer that.