moved for leave to introduce Bill C-468, an act to amend the Criminal Code (criminal liability of corporations, directors and officers).
Mr. Speaker, this bill is an act to amend the Criminal Code concerning the criminal liability of corporations, directors and officers.
The purpose of the bill is to establish in certain circumstances the criminal liability of corporations for criminal acts or omissions carried out by their officers or staff. This would arise if the corporation management knew or should have known of the act, or omission, or condoned or was wilfully blind to it. It is not necessary for the act or the omission to be committed by the same person who authorized it or tolerated it.
This arises out of the concern that many Canadians have expressed because of the Westray disaster and other incidents where workers have been victimized by corporations and yet the management and ownership have gotten off because there is no provision in the law for the appropriate prosecution.
(Motion deemed adopted, bill read the first time and printed)