Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the co-operation of hon. members. This bill on money laundering deals with an emerging crime, and one that is getting worse. Dirty money is that money earned from criminal activities, mainly drug dealing, but also such activities as smuggling cigarettes and theft, and is often the product of organized crime. Money laundering is the process by which that dirty money is cleaned in such a way that it cannot be readily or easily traced back to its illegal activities, therefore allowing crime to profit.
The financial action task force, of which Canada is a member, consists of 26 countries. It consists of the OECD countries, plus Singapore. It estimated that the global amount of money laundering is in the area of $300 billion to $500 billion U.S. every year.