Debates of May 24th, 2013

Fighting Foreign Corruption Act

[Tony Clement, Conservative, Parry Sound—Muskoka, ON]

moved that Bill S-14, An Act to amend the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act, be read the second time and referred to a committee.

[Bob Dechert, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to rise today to begin debate at second reading of Bill S-14, the fighting foreign corruption act.

On February 5, our government announced further steps to combat corruption and bribery by tabling amendments to the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act, or the CFPOA.

Canada has long played a prominent role on the international stage in combatting corruption. Bill S-14 signals our commitment to further deter and prevent Canadian companies from bribing foreign public officials.

The amendments proposed in Bill S-14 are intended to ensure that Canadian companies continue to act in good faith in the pursuit of freer markets and expanded global trade. They also signal our commitment and our expectation that other countries do the same.

The CFPOA has been in force since 1999 and was first introduced to implement our international obligations under the OECD anti-bribery convention and two more anti-corruption conventions through the OAS and the UN.

In essence, the CFPOA makes it a crime in Canada to bribe a foreign public official to gain a business advantage abroad. It also makes it possible to prosecute a conspiracy to commit or an attempt to commit such a bribery. It covers aiding and abetting the commission of bribery, an intention in common to commit bribery and counselling others to commit bribery.

Laundering property and the proceeds of crime, including the proceeds of bribery offences, as well as the possession of property and proceeds, are already offences under the Criminal Code. The new offences being created in the CFPOA would also be captured by these Criminal Code provisions once they were in force.

The six proposed amendments included in Bill S-14 are intended to answer the call for enhanced vigilance. They demonstrate a comprehensive approach to fighting bribery and signal our government's strong and unwavering commitment to that fight. I will explain each of these in turn.

The first amendment, the introduction of nationality jurisdiction, would allow us to prosecute Canadians or Canadian companies on the basis of their nationality, regardless of where the bribery takes place in the world. Currently, we can only do so after providing a substantial link between the offence and Canadian territory.

The second amendment would provide exclusive authority to the RCMP to lay charges under the act. This would ensure that a uniform approach is taken across Canada and would raise awareness of Canadian businesses regarding the RCMP's primary role in the CFPOA investigations.

The third amendment, the elimination of the words “for profit” from the definition of “business”, would ensure that bribery applies to all, not just those paid by businesses that make a profit.

The fourth amendment would increase the maximum jail term to 14 years. It is currently punishable by a maximum of five years' imprisonment and unlimited fines. The possibility of unlimited fines will remain as it is.

The fifth amendment creates a new books and records offence specific to foreign bribery. International anti-corruption treaties to which Canada is a party require that measures be put in place to ensure that individuals and companies do not “cook the books”. The penalties for the new offence would mirror those of the foreign bribery offence; that is, a maximum of 14 years of imprisonment and unlimited fines.

The sixth and final amendment would eliminate the facilitation payments exception. Currently, the act states that payments made “to expedite or secure the performance by a foreign public official of any act of a routine nature” do not constitute bribes for the purposes of the CFPOA. The CFPOA also provides for an inclusive list of acts of a routine nature.

For the benefit of all members, a facilitation payment is a payment made to a foreign public official to do something that he or she is already obligated to do, such as deliver the mail on time. Conversely, payments that are made to receive a business advantage constitute bribes, which are already illegal under the CFPOA. As a result of the elimination of the facilitation payments defence, this would not create a competitive disadvantage for Canadian companies in international markets. Bribes are illegal under the legislation of every OECD country.

In order to ensure a level playing field for all businesses, Bill S-14 provides for the delay of the coming into force of the elimination of the facilitation payments exception to allow Canadian companies to adjust their own practices and internal policies, if they have not already done so, to ban the use of facilitation payments in their day-to-day operations. This time to adjust is all the more important given that some other countries continue to allow facilitation payments.

With Bill S-14, our government has taken a proactive role in raising awareness of its zero-tolerance position, and we are taking a proactive role in raising awareness of the risks of engaging in corruption abroad.

It is incumbent upon us to appreciate this bill for what it is: that being a clear message that Canada means business and that our government's top priority is securing jobs, growth and long-term prosperity.

Corruption does the opposite. Corruption erodes economic growth and long-term prosperity. Corruption fosters an environment conducive to allowing other crimes to flourish.

Foreign bribery undermines economic prosperity by corroding the rule of law that is the basis of market freedom. The global fight against foreign bribery is intended to create a level playing field for all international businesses. The bill provides us with a strong tool for creating the conditions for Canadian businesses to play by the rules and for Canadian businesses to succeed. Canadian companies can compete with the best and win fairly. Recent cases right here in Canada demonstrate the need for continued vigilance and the importance of effective enforcement.

Our government remains committed to combatting foreign corruption and has already developed and implemented an array of regulatory and legislative tools with which to do so. A number of federal departments, agencies and crown corporations play key roles in Canada's fight against foreign bribery. They work in close co-operation in Canada's two-pronged approach to foreign bribery: enforcement and prevention.

In January 2008, the RCMP established its international anti-corruption unit, which is dedicated to enforcing and raising awareness about the CFPOA. Comprising two teams, strategically located in Ottawa, Canada's capital, and Calgary, a major nucleus for industry, trade and finance and a hub for Canada's extractive industries, it has complemented enforcement efforts with substantial awareness-raising and training.

In addition, the legal framework that established the Public Prosecution Service of Canada in 2006 further enhances prosecutorial discretion in Canada. Since its establishment, the PPSC has also created a position in Ottawa for the purpose of advising the two RCMP teams on ongoing investigations.

To date, under the CFPOA, there have been three convictions, and two cases are pending. There are 35 ongoing investigations. The penalties are increasing substantially with each new conviction. This is good news for Canada. With the adoption of these new amendments, we can expect to hear even better news.

In early 2012, during the development phase to identify new ways for Canada to enhance its fight against foreign bribery, the government hosted the “Canadian Workshop: New Ideas for Canada's Fight against Foreign Bribery”. This was a means to consult with experts from Canadian businesses, law firms, academic institutions and non-governmental organizations on the issue of foreign bribery.

The workshop was held in Ottawa and provided an opportunity for discussions between government officials and key stakeholders on concrete steps that could be taken to improve the enforcement of the CFPOA, and to further encourage Canadian companies to prevent bribery before it happens and to detect it when it occurs.

Over 30 participants engaged in discussions on a number of foreign bribery related themes, including possibly amending the CFPOA, recognizing and resisting bribery solicitations, discouraging facilitation payments, voluntary disclosure, books and records offences, awareness raising, messaging to small and medium-sized enterprises, sectorial initiatives and education and training.

The Government of Canada continues to consider the views and ideas that were presented at the workshop, which was intended to be the first step toward increasing engagement and co-operation with key stakeholders on foreign bribery and corruption in the months and years to come. The results of that consultation are reflected in the bill.

These consultations complement the awareness-raising endeavours undertaken by the RCMP, which I mentioned earlier. Additional examples of the RCMP's participation in anti-corruption awareness programs and training include expanding its training of RCMP liaison officers before they depart for overseas assignments to include the issues of foreign bribery and the CFPOA.

The international anti-corruption unit has also established contacts for the Department of Justice's international systems group to ensure that priority is given to requests for mutual legal assistance in corruption matters. The RCMP has also made a number of presentations to external stakeholders, including presentations to local universities, non-governmental organizations, banks, trade commissioners, law firms, government partners, the Canadian Institute of Mining and numerous Canadian and international associations, experts and professionals.

As we can see from an enforcement perspective, we are on solid ground. As mentioned earlier, a number of federal departments, agencies and crown corporations play key roles in Canada's fight against foreign bribery. They work in close co-operation in Canada's two-pronged approach to foreign bribery: in enforcement and in prevention.

Another of these key departments is Public Works and Government Services Canada. Members will recall that effective July 11, 2012, PWGSC extended the list of offences that render companies and individuals ineligible to bid on contracts to include the bribing of a foreign public official under the CFPOA. This further demonstrates the government's zero tolerance position and is evidence of the variety of legislative, regulatory and policy instruments used in Canada's whole of government approach to combatting corruption.

From a prevention perspective, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade also engages in training and outreach. Information and training on the act and on Canada's international obligations to prevent and combat corruption are provided to heads of mission, trade commissioners and political officers.

In March 2010, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade adopted the policy and procedure for reporting allegations of bribery abroad by Canadians or Canadian companies. These provide guidance to Canadian missions on the steps that must be taken when allegations arise that a Canadian company or individual has bribed a Canadian public official, or other bribery related offences.

Canada is a trading nation. Our economy and future prosperity depend upon expanding our trade ties with the world. As the Minister of Foreign Affairs said on February 5, Canada is committed to the implementation of our international obligations on anti corruption.

These amendments will help ensure that Canadian companies continue to act in good faith in the pursuit of freer markets and expanded global trade.

It is now up to the House to demonstrate our commitment to combatting corruption. Canada is committed to strengthening its fight against corruption, and this bill is a reflection of that commitment. Bribery is not the Canadian way of doing business. We need to make this crystal clear today.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we on this side support the principle of the legislation. We want to see it go to committee to be studied.

However, I want to start off my question by noting the irony of this. It is coming from the Senate. If we look at who is in the Senate and the list of people who serve on international corporations and so on, there are some who right now are having some challenges with respect to tax havens. It is a little rich that the government is depending on the Senate to bring this bill forward. I will leave the irony to everyone who is looking at it.

Canada is a laggard when it comes to transparency. In fact, Transparency International ranked Canada the worst of all G7 nations in 2011. I know that one of the Conservative members is shaking his head. He should, because Canada is the worst in terms of transparency, not according to the NDP but according to Transparency International.

My question is to the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Will the government go further than this? The G8 is coming up and we need to strengthen the EITI, which Prime Minister Cameron is pushing.

Will we actually sign on to go further than this, which is basically what happens when people get caught, and have full disclosure of Canadian extractives when they are doing business abroad?

[Bob Dechert, Conservative, Mississauga—Erindale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, of course, I understand that the NDP has a long-standing distrust and dislike of the Canadian extractive industry, which employs hundreds and thousands of Canadians and generates billions of dollars for the Canadian economy. It is a shame, because it is one of the great industries of Canada and makes Canada a global player in the world.

He mentioned transparency, so I would like to tell him about what Transparency International Canada has said about the bill we are here to discuss today. It said that Transparency International Canada is delighted that the federal government is moving to strengthen the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act in accordance with Canada’s international obligations, and it encourages the government to ensure that “the RCMP has the necessary resources necessary to enforce the CFPOA” effectively.

The Hon. John Manley, a former deputy Prime Minister of Canada, said that good corporate citizenship at home and abroad is essential to Canada’s economic success and that these latest measures aimed at eliminating corruption and bribery will strengthen Canada’s already strong reputation for good governance and ethical business practices.

Ian Pearce, the Chief Executive Officer of Xstrata Nickel, one of those great Canadian companies the NDP does not want to support and does not think Canadians should be employed by, said that as a Canadian-based company with operations and projects around the world, it applauds the government’s efforts to combat corruption and bribery. It said that as part of the Xstrata Group, it is committed to the highest standards of personal and professional ethical behaviour and has a policy of zero tolerance towards any form of bribery or fraud.

These are some of the quotes people are making about this very important piece of legislation. I hope that my hon. colleague takes the time to read the legislation, and I look forward to debating it with him at committee.

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

Mr. Speaker, unlike the representative of the NDP, we basically agree with the bill and think it is a good idea. It is a welcomed initiative, and we hope that it sees its way into committee sooner rather than later and does not die the death of prorogation.

I am a little concerned. As the Globe and Mail has rightly said, Canada has ranked the worst in the G7 nations in fighting bribery. In fact, over the last period of time the Americans have had 227 prosecutions, the Germans have had 135 and we have had two. I would hope that this legislation would enhance the enthusiasm of the government for prosecutions. As the parliamentary secretary has rightly said, Canadians are fed up with reading about Canadian companies in their national media.

It is curious to me that while this legislation is welcomed legislation and will be supported by, it looks like, all the parties in the House, later on today my Bill C-474, the sunshine bill, which is a bill that would supply evidence for a prosecution, will be spoken against by the Government of Canada.

Why would the government on the one hand enhance its legislative ability and yet simultaneously make it more difficult for prosecutions to succeed?

[Bob Dechert, Conservative, Mississauga—Erindale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, first of all, I appreciate the support of the member's party and other parties to move this bill as quickly as possible to the foreign affairs committee. As a member of that committee, I give my commitment that we will do everything in our power to move it through as quickly as possible. I agree with the member that this is important legislation.

It is interesting that the member points out that there have been three or four convictions so far under the current legislation. This was legislation that was introduced by his government. To the extent that there were things missing from that legislation, he perhaps may want to talk to some of his colleagues about that. However, his former colleague, the Hon. John Manley, has praised this bill. He said it is the right thing to do and has praised this government for moving quickly.

The OECD pointed out some of these issues to the Canadian government just two years ago. This bill was brought forward immediately to address those issues.

I think we will see more prosecutions, but I also believe that Canadian companies are very ethical. Generally speaking, Canadian companies are of the highest ethical standards in the world, and that is probably why we do not see more of these kinds of prosecutions.

With respect to the member's bill, we will be debating it later today. I will be speaking on it and look forward to talking about it at that time.

[Stella Ambler, Conservative, Mississauga South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the issue of global corruption is receiving significant attention both at home and abroad. I agree that the amendments before us today send a strong message that Canadian companies can compete fairly and that we expect other countries to do the same.

Can the hon. member tell us how recent uprisings in the Middle East and north Africa have made these measures so timely?

[Bob Dechert, Conservative, Mississauga—Erindale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague from Mississauga South for her question. I think everyone should know what a hard-working member of Parliament she is. She is always bringing issues of importance to her constituents before the House.

The member is right. There have been incidents with the Arab Spring where corrupt regimes have been overthrown by democratic forces, which have brought to light several cases of foreign companies involved in bribery in those countries. Canada is no exception. Several of those cases are now before the courts. I will not comment on them specifically, but the legislation we are here to discuss today would make that whole regime tighter and result in better prosecutions and better prevention of these things happening in the future.

[Hélène LeBlanc, NDP, LaSalle—Émard, QC]

Mr. Speaker, I want to object to the way the member refers to the bill with “our government”. I would remind him that the bill is from the other chamber, and the other chamber should be non-partisan. We see how much trouble it is in already because it is so partisan.

If it is a priority of the government that is sitting here and not the other place, how come it took five years to bring the bill forward?

[Bob Dechert, Conservative, Mississauga—Erindale, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I am not sure the member was here prior to the last election, but perhaps she does not know that the reason that bill died on the order paper was because there was an election. Her party voted against the government, which forced the election. That is the easy answer.

[The Acting Speaker, Conservative, Bernard Trottier]

I would remind members to try to keep their questions and their answers to a reasonable length so that we can move forward.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak to Bill S-14. As I do with all of the bills that come from the Senate, I have to start by talking a bit about parliamentary democracy, particularly with respect to this legislation.

We are seeing this disturbing trend where bills come to his place that originate in the Senate. I do not know what those members over there were thinking when they were first elected, particularly those who started with the Reform Party, but we have never seen so many pieces of legislation. Was that Preston Manning's vision of what the Senate would become? Over 58 senators have been appointed by the present Prime Minister and they were not appointed on the basis of merit but rather on who they knew. We see what is unravelling there now.

The originators of this piece of legislation are in that place. This legislation is about corruption with companies that some of the people over there have some problems with. There is a conflict of interest here. If members across the way cannot see this, then they should open their eyes. How could they not have caught this? They could not even see the fact that a bill that deals with corruption with companies should not start in the Senate where people are still sitting on boards of corporations. It is called a conflict of interest, and that whole place is a conflict of interest it seems these days.

This does need to be pointed out to Canadians as they watch the crisis in Parliament and in the Senate. Senators who have been appointed to that place sit with elected members from this place in caucus every Wednesday, and they share all their information and wisdom. They are seen as legitimate players in terms of what happens in our parliamentary democracy. That is a shame, and it obviously should be changed. This legislation should be dealt with through sober eyes and with clean hands. I am sorry, but there is a problem when people who sit on the boards of corporations are the originators of this legislation. I cannot believe the Conservatives could not see that; although these days there is a bit of a fog over there as to principles and ethics. Everyone knows about that.

Bill S-14 is overdue. Canada ranks dead last when it comes to transparency. The government talked a good game in 2006. I just heard the parliamentary secretary's rationale of “could not get it done”. That reminded me of the previous government that was going to do all sorts of things on climate change and so on, but it just could not get it done. The Conservative government has been in power since 2006, and Canada is ranked dead last in the G7 when it comes to transparency.

However, now it comes forward at the last minute. We will be embarrassed at the G8 if we do not get in line with what other G7 countries want to do, and that is to have full disclosure with Canadian companies, particularly the extractive companies, when it comes to doing business abroad. The bill would not deal with that. The bill is the bare minimum when it comes to looking at corruption and how Canadian companies do business abroad, which is basically after they are caught.

We need to go much further than this. We need to look at the initiatives taken south of the border. We need to think about what we are going to see when the G7 comes up. British Prime Minister Cameron is going to talk about taxes, transparency and trade. Under transparency, he is going to put on the table the EITI principles, which Canada has been called out on. Right now, Russia and Canada are the two countries in the G8 that are being called out for not doing enough. We have to change that because it involves our good name.

I will not bite on the parliamentary secretary's notion that the NDP is against all mining, gas and oil. Many of us have worked in those sectors. We represent constituents who work in those sectors. I am not sure if he has been there, but the parliamentary secretary should go to northern Ontario and he would understand that. Alas, I will not bite on that. It has no credibility, as is often the case with the parliamentary secretary.

We need to understand that if we do not do more, if this is all the government has to offer in terms of Canada crawling out from last place in transparency, then we have failed. Not only will we have failed in terms of our reputation abroad, but we will have failed Canadian companies. Let me spend a couple of minutes speaking on that.

Right now the mining sector is ready to fully embrace the principles of disclosure. It is stunning that the government has not actually met the industry's wish to have that happen. Why is it doing that? It is because the world has changed and these guys are living in the past. The Conservatives think they can go with the old rules and everything will be fine, that people sit around the table and say, “We have to catch up with this because if we don't it's going to catch up to us”.

The world is passing us by. Industry is passing us by. Industry actually wants to embrace full disclosure of all transactions with foreign countries and companies that they are doing business with overseas. It is really bizarre for me to see that the government is so far in the past and that we have every other country in the G7 passing us by. Canada used to be the leader in the area of international law transparency. We are dead last right now.

Bill S-14 would create new offences for those who are concealing records. Fine. It would make sure the notion of the exception for so-called facilitation payments would be dealt with. SNC Lavalin could tell us a lot about that; obviously, that is something it got caught in. Should we have dealt with that a long time ago? Absolutely. Is it going far enough? Absolutely not. It is a question of whether the government actually believes in corporate social responsibility. That is what it is about.

What the government fails to do, sadly, is to understand that the rest of the world is moving ahead. If it is going to be stuck in the past, it is at the cost of Canada's reputation, and actually at the cost of Canadian businesses, because no country will want to have a company coming in that is not up to the highest standard. Those are the old days, where they could say they were going to open up an operation in a country and they would have to do certain things because it is a cultural thing there, the way they do business, and just pretend it is okay. Those days are gone, and the government had better wake up to that because the future is about full transparency. It is about full daylight. It is not just about bringing in provisions like this bill, which was something that should have been done decades ago; it is about actually going much further.

When we look at Canada's footprint in the world, we should be leaders. Canada's footprint, particularly in the extractive industry, in mining, and gas and oil to some extent as well, is massive. As members probably know, we have the largest footprint when it comes to concentration of investment, and just look at the Toronto Stock Exchange. That is something we have to pay particular attention to. If we are not careful and we are not bringing in full transparency and requirements for industry when doing business abroad, it could affect investment, in the short and the long run, frankly.

We will see other countries passing us by. Also, if countries that are wanting to get into this field see Canada as living in the past and not being brought up to the standards that many in the international community have embraced, then that will affect investment and jobs. It will mean that instead of being seen as a leader in this area, Canada will continue to be seen as a laggard.

It is interesting that the government did not add more teeth to this legislation earlier. I say that because we had some very fulsome debates on the idea of corporate social responsibility. I know my colleague from the Liberal Party will recall that. At the time, the government was so consumed with shutting down any further requirements for industry when doing their business abroad that it forgot to look at what was happening around the world. At the time it was just about “kill that bill”, and it was successful in doing so. What it forgot to do was to look around and notice the world was changing. Even countries that are often criticized, like China, is doing a lot to change the way it is doing business abroad.

I find it rather simplistic, at best, that the government decided it would only bring forward this legislation after being in power since 2006, that it would come from the Senate, which is the definition of irony, I guess, and that it would not understand that we have to do more in this area.

When some of us travel abroad, we talk to people in government and on the ground and ask, “What are your feelings about what is happening in terms of Canada's participation in your country?” The one thing many people say is that they would like more enforcement in terms of transparency. They say that because they actually want us there, there is no question about it. By and large, Canadian companies have a good reputation; the parliamentary secretary and I agree on this. However, people want us to go further and embrace the norms and standards that the rest of the world has now embraced.

I think of places I have been to like the Congo. There was a recent study by Kofi Annan, in which he identified the problem now in the continent of Africa, where there is massive investment. The problem is that the people who are responsible for, so to speak, stewardship of the land and people who live on the land, are not seeing the benefits. Essentially, it is because money is being sucked out of the continent. It is going elsewhere and they are not seeing the benefits. That social contract that is absolutely critical when investing anywhere in Canada, but especially overseas, is being disrupted. People are not seeing the benefits of having an enterprise in their communities and many now are fighting against it. Clearly, we have to get our house in order. Clearly, we have to do more than what is being offered in this bill. As I said at the beginning, New Democrats will support this bill in principle and study it in committee.

One has to ask oneself if the government actually understands what is happening in the world today. I would argue it does not. There are, as I said before, umbrella groups that represent mining saying they are ready and absolutely on board with full transparency and strengthening the EITI principles. They tell government to get on board and get going and they get silence, at best, from government. One has to wonder what world it is living in.

If we look at what is happening around the world, the world has changed significantly. We see developing emerging economies with more capacity to develop their own resources. We see that the BRIC countries are obviously playing a more significant role than even five or six years ago. Instead of trying to do the minimum, Canada should be doing a lot more because what it means for both our reputation and ability to do business are absolutely connected.

I will give the example of China. Many people have talked over the years about how much China is involved in the development of oil and gas and mining overseas. In fact, there was an issue on the west coast of Canada with a Chinese mining company. It understands now that it cannot go in and do whatever it wants. It has to substantively change its business model, ensure there is no corruption and that it adheres to some basic norms. That is a big change because it knows that at some point the host country will no longer welcome it if there is seen to be, and there is, a lack of transparency.

Internationally, Canada has the responsibility to engage in responsible commerce. I will tell the government to look at what it has done to date. It decided that it would fight to the end on strengthening corporate social responsibility and it brought in a counsellor on the issue. Everyone who has studied the operations of that office will note that it is like the integrity commissioner. There is a person at that office, but there is not a lot going on. The lights are on, yes, but I am wondering if anyone is home.

The question for the government is if this is all it has and this is its vision. Canadians want more, that is clear, that is within our values, but on the business side they want to see that there are clear rules. Two things businesses want are consistent rules and fair rules. Right now they are looking at government and there is a fog. I say that because there is this line that the Conservatives use over and over again, that they are for trade and New Democrats are against trade, they are for business and New Democrats are against business.

[An hon. member]

It is black and white.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

It is black and white. As if anyone believes that. I hope Conservatives do not believe it themselves because it is such a simplistic analysis of the world that it really defies credibility.

It is kind of like someone saying, “This simple world you live in is based on only two things: you are for investment and you are for jobs, and that is it. There is nothing else.” The fact is if they are for jobs, they have to be for corporate social responsibility. If they are for investment, they have to have clear and transparent rules. That is where we come in.

That is our job, to provide the sound framework for business to do its work, here and overseas, and for investment to make sure that we are providing the clear rules that everyone can get behind, so there is fairness for investment. Investors do not like instability, and when the rules are changing on a regular basis, as we have seen with the government on temporary foreign workers, they do not like that. Right now, business is very angry with the government, because it went from opening everything up for temporary foreign workers to throwing all this red tape at it. I am sure the Conservatives are hearing from business in their ridings, because they have swung from one end to the other, seemingly for business, and it does not make sense.

When I look at the approach that the government is taking on this bill, it reminds me of someone trying to clean up a mess afterwards, and not looking at preventing a crisis. The fact is that everyone was aware of what was going on in places like Libya. We had Canadian companies doing business abroad in Burma; I remember one of the first files I dealt with when was I elected had to do with what was going on in Burma. We pushed hard for the government to bring in the special economic action rules against Burma. The government finally did, but it did not go back to deal with the present investment in Burma. Companies were still operating in Burma after the government brought in the special economic action measures. It is indicative of the government that it is constantly behind; it is like it is constantly living in the past and not dealing with the future.

In reading the actual bill, no one can argue that the people who are behind this are trying to plug loopholes by eliminating the exceptions previously available, and adding national jurisdiction, which will remove the uncertainty that business is concerned about.

I think we will hear about the offences at committee. We have to start with something, and we can look at that. There is a question that charities have about delivering humanitarian aid, and that is a question we will have to deal with at committee.

If we look at the approach that the government started off with, it was, “How do we deal with our reputation abroad? How do we deal with the fact that there are these loopholes?” That was a fair place to start. I do agree with the parliamentary secretary on the need to give the RCMP the tools they need to enforce legislation. That was not the case before, and I see some positive movement with that.

However, we also have to look at the other side. If we only do this and do not do anything else, have we actually dealt with the core issue? The core issue, as I said at the beginning of my speech, is about transparency and looking to the future, not living in the past.

This bill simply recognizes something that has been around for far too long, but the government will not have actually brought us into the present-day environment of business and international relations unless it goes further, embracing full transparency and, when we go to the G8, ensuring that we get behind the initiatives of full transparency in the extractive industries. If we do not do that, we will continue to live in the past.

The NDP will push for future legislation that will actually make this something seen as a minimum, and for us to actually get on, like the rest of the world has, with full disclosure, full sunlight as my colleague from the Liberal Party has suggested, and see that Canada can be proud of its record on the international stage. That will be good for Canadians, it will be good for investment and will be good all around.

[Bob Dechert, Conservative, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs]

Mr. Speaker, I thank my colleague for his speech and for the commitment of his party to support this legislation and get it to committee. It is important to Canada and to our government. I know that he will help move it through committee as quickly as possible.

I hate to burst his bubble, though. He mentioned transparency. I have to remind hon. members of the quote from the chair and president of Transparency International. I think that is exactly what he is talking about. She said that Transparency International is delighted that the federal government is moving to strengthen the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act in accordance with Canada's international obligations and encourages the government to ensure that the RCMP have the resources necessary to enforce the CFPOA effectively.

He also mentioned Canada's reputation with respect to corruption and other things, and transparency. I wonder if he is aware that yesterday GlobeScan released its report showing that Canada is actually the second most favourably reviewed country in the world by citizens of the world, up quite significantly from a number of years ago when the Liberal Party, for example, was in power. Canada's status in the world, people's view of Canada in the world, is actually going up, not down. Perhaps he could comment on that.

Also, I should just point out he said that Canada was behind. The amendments that are being discussed today are not in place in the United States, Australia and New Zealand, the world's largest economies.

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, in its 2001 report, which is not that long ago, Transparency International ranked Canada as the worst of all G7 countries--I know that hurts the parliamentary secretary's image of his government, but there it is--with respect to international bribery. In fact, quoting from the report, there is little or no enforcement and there is a problem in terms of legislation.

We are glad that the government is finally getting on board with what everyone else has been doing; providing better legislation, but also enforcement. We can have all the rules in the world but if we do not enforce them, we are going to find ourselves having a bit of a problem, in terms of legitimacy.

Finally, I find it interesting. The government talks about dealing with these issues. When it comes to the Canada Revenue Agency, what does it do? It cuts capacity. It does the same with the RCMP. It defies credibility for the government to say that it is serious about these issues when it is cutting the enforcement side. It still is living in the past when it comes to consensus in improving our disclosure of Canadian companies doing all of their work abroad.

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

Mr. Speaker, we might title this day “corruption day on the Hill”. After all, for the first hour or so, we are going to be talking about Bill S-14, a bill on bribery and corruption. I dare say question period will have something to do with the other place, which might have something to do with bribery and corruption. Then we will go back to debating this bill, which is clearly about bribery and corruption. Then we will be on to debating my sunshine bill, which is also about bribery and corruption. I would say that this is corruption day on the Hill.

I take note of the irony, as has my colleague, but there is also a double irony going on here. The government's position is that it wants us to support Bill S-14, which we both agree is a good idea. However, when it comes to actually generating evidence that would support prosecutions under Bill S-14 the government does not want Bill C-474 to pass or to see the light of day.

It is great to say that we have all this great law, but it is utterly useless if in fact we cannot generate the evidence.

I am quoting from what the parliamentary secretary seems to be fond of quoting from:

Transparency International, a group that monitors global corruption, put Canada in the lowest category of countries with “little or no enforcement” when it comes to applying bribery standards.

And also:

By contrast, the United States has prosecuted more than 200 companies and individuals, many of them “a veritable who’s who of the corporate world”.

My question is very simple. What is the use of Bill S-14 if in fact Bill C-474 does not pass and if in fact there are no resources available to the RCMP?

[Paul Dewar, NDP, Ottawa Centre, ON]

Mr. Speaker, the government is having a real problem keeping up with current trends, and that is not new to anyone who has watched what has happened in the Senate. As a footnote to that, the member mentioned the irony of this bill coming from the Senate when it has had allegations of bribery and corruption. For the Conservatives to come here with a bill to deal with corruption, maybe they should have started at home. I do not mean in Canada; I mean in their party.

The member is talking about something that is very important. He is right that we will be debating later this afternoon the Cardin-Lugar elements of the Dodd-Frank's legislation in the United States, which has been challenging all of us to do more when it comes to transparency for, in the case, Canadian companies doing business abroad. No longer is it acceptable for any country to allow its companies to operate overseas and not abide by the same rules they abide by in their own country. It is very simple. It is called consistency and ethics.

I think every country in the G7 has stood behind it. It will be interesting to see what happens in the G8 meetings and whether Canada is going to embrace this or not. This afternoon we will find out what the point of view of the government is on this sunshine bill. To date, it sounds like it will be against it.

Industry wants to see this happen. Why is the government being a laggard on this?

[John McKay, Liberal, Scarborough—Guildwood, ON]

Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the opportunity to talk about corruption and bribery. It looks like this will be a discussion that we will have all day. We will have this discussion before question period, during question period, after question period and, I dare say, this is not a conversation that will go to go away any time soon.

As I said in my previous interventions, we generally support this bill. The various aspects of the legislation are actually pretty good ideas. We hope the bill will go to committee sooner rather than later, that it will not suffer the fates of a potential prorogation and that we will have an amendment to the Criminal Code, which would enable better prosecution of companies that find themselves in difficult situations with respect to allegations of corruption and bribery.

Canadians are thoroughly fed up with reading about their companies being involved in allegations and convictions of bribery.

I bring to the attention of my colleagues several recent instances. Regrettably we have about one of Canada's premier companies, SNC-Lavalin, which has been banned from bidding on contracts with the World Bank for the next 10 years because of convictions regarding bribery and corruption. Not only has it lost its reputation, it has had to fire a number of its senior executives. It has had to undergo the humiliation of being investigated by the RCMP and other international police forces. Its stock has been hammered, which always gets the attention of shareholders. Niko Resources was fined $9.5 million for bribing a former energy minister also in Bangladesh. Griffiths Energy International was fined $10.3 million for bribing the wife of Chad's former ambassador to Canada.

I do not care to carry on with this laundry list, but these are very difficult times for some of Canada's premier industries and they know they have a problem. As the member for Ottawa Centre indicated, they are actually asking for enforceable transparency initiatives and those transparency initiatives hopefully would go to help this.

Not only is the reputation of the individual company hammered, not only is its stock hammered, but the industry itself is hammered. The vast majority of companies that wish to operate by internationally recognized standards of corporate social responsibility are also getting hammered and they have difficulties getting out their message that they operate ethically, transparently and in a corporately social responsible fashion. Therefore, the company is being hammered, the stock is being hammered, the industry is being hammered and, in addition, we have our national reputation being hammered.

The parliamentary secretary pulled out some quote and talked about how our nation still had a good reputation and things of that nature. That is not due to anything that the Conservatives have done, but I think he is living in a bit of a la-la land because we actually have had a reputational decline and that is very difficult to recover. Those who conduct these surveys have noted that the loss of reputation is very difficult to reverse. The government has made some efforts. This is one of the efforts.

The government has tried to repair the reputation in the extractive sector with the corporate social responsibility counsellor. After four years, and I do not know how many millions of dollars, two cases or three cases gives the appearance of doing something without actually having done anything at all. I do not know if the government has actually taken our decline in reputation seriously. This damage to our reputation is a serious issue.

The Globe and Mail published an article stating that Canada was at the lowest category of countries with little or no enforcement when it came to not initiating new measures, but applying the bribery standards set out in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The issue is not the absence of legislation but the application of the legislation.

I am perfectly prepared to admit that this is complicated law to apply. It requires a lot of resources and we all know these resources are being stretched. Nevertheless, it seems that other nations take it far more seriously than we do.

By contrast, the U.S. has prosecuted more than 200 companies and individuals, many of them “a veritable who’s who of the corporate world”, according to Peter Dent, a partner at Deloitte Touche who sits on the board of Transparency International Canada. Then it goes on to list a number of cases, including Backfire Exploration Ltd. in Mexico, Niko Resources in Bangladesh, Nazir Karigar in India.

The numbers tell the tale. There have been 227 cases prosecuted in the United States, 135 in Germany, 35 in Switzerland, 24 in France and in Italy and the United Kingdom 18 and 17 respectively. We have two. Yet we are the nation with the greatest number of companies operating in the world in the extractive sector. We have the greatest number of companies and the best stock exchange in the world. This is where the world comes to do mining right. We have the best geologist, lawyers, financing and accounting. We have it all here and yet apparently we have no corruption whatsoever. There have been two cases prosecuted in the last number of years.

I would like the government to accompany its initiative, which is a good initiative, with real resources and the support of the sunshine bill, Bill C-474. It would provide the evidence base for the prosecutions under this initiative by the government. Bill C-474 would require each company, 180 days after its fiscal year ends, to file with the government statement with respect to each project and what payments were made to facilitate that project. Therefore, within 180 days, the governments, shareholders and NGOs would know. Obviously, management would already know because that information would be readily available to it. Then a light would be shed on that.

If I am a police officer contemplating a prosecution against a company that has “allegations” against it, the first thing I would do is look at the record of filings for company X, Y or Z to determine if it filed the previous year or the year before and what it had listed.

[The Speaker, Conservative, Andrew Scheer]

The hon. member will have a full 10 minutes after question period to conclude his remarks.

Love Mountain

[Paul Calandra, Conservative, Oak Ridges—Markham, ON]

Mr. Speaker, on Wednesday, May 15, I had the opportunity to represent the Minister of the Environment as we paid tribute to the Love family.

Ann and David Love of King Township donated an easement across some of their land, which is called the Love Mountain. This is an important part of the Happy Valley Forest.

With a contribution of $165,000 from the Government of Canada and through our partnership with the Nature Conservancy of Canada, we were able to protect this very important part of the natural heritage within our riding.

It goes without saying that I have the most beautiful riding in the entire country, but in addition to having the most beautiful riding in the entire country, I also have some of the most beautiful people in the country. This is an incredible family, and it gave me such pleasure and pride to go there as they made this donation to protect such an important part of our natural heritage.

When we combine that with the extraordinary work that the Minister of the Environment and all the members of the Conservative caucus in the GTA are doing to bring about Canada's first urban park, the Rouge Park, there are lots of good things happening with the environment in my riding, and I am very proud of those achievements.

Asian Heritage Month

[Jinny Sims, NDP, Newton—North Delta, BC]

Mr. Speaker, I am among the 20% of Canadians who were born outside of this country. I am proud to be Canadian, and also deeply proud of my Asian heritage, so it brings me great joy to rise today in celebration of Asian Heritage Month.

Each May we recognize those of Asian origin who have made Canada their home and the valuable contributions they make to our country's political, social and economic culture.

Let us acknowledge that the landscape of this country is richer because of its diversity, because of Canadians who hail from every continent.

Two weeks ago, the Conservative government announced it will now take longer and cost more for Canadians born abroad to reunite with beloved family members—children with grandparents, adult children with their own parents—in direct contradiction to what New Democrats believe makes a strong Canada: families, communities, loved ones nearby.

In honour of Asian Heritage Month, I pledge my commitment to fight these changes and to fight for families, communities and our strong, beautiful Canada.

Jumpstart Day

[Ray Boughen, Conservative, Palliser, SK]

Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to rise in the House today to recognize Jumpstart Day, which is held on May 25.

Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities is a community-based program that helps financially disadvantaged youth participate in organized sport and recreation by covering costs of registration, equipment and transportation.

Jumpstart reinvests 100% of donations received from customers into the local community.

Under the leadership of the Minister of State for Sport, our government has been a major supporter of Canadian Tire Jumpstart. Since the program's inception in 2005, it has helped more than 582,000 children.

Jumpstart works with its network of local chapters and community partners to identify kids with the greatest need in their community.

I ask members to join me in recognizing the great work that Jumpstart does for families across our great country.

Ray Guy and Gordon Seabright

[Scott Andrews, Liberal, Avalon, NL]

Mr. Speaker, Newfoundland and Labrador have lost two prominent citizens. Although very different in character and nature, these two individuals were very proud of their native province and made a significant contribution to our society.

Ray Guy, a native of Arnold's Cove, was a well-known journalist, humorist, writer and actor and a colourful critic of all governments. He studied journalism and then returned to Newfoundland to write for The Telegram.

His career saw him as a local commentator on CBC, director of a stage play and an actor alongside Gordon Pinsent and Mary Walsh. Mr. Guy received national awards for his writings, the Steven Leacock Award for Humour and an honorary degree from Memorial University.

Mr. Guy passed away at the age of 74. Condolences are extended to his wife Kathie Housser and daughters Rachel and Anne.

Also last week, former provincial court judge Gordon Seabright passed away at the age of 79. Mr. Seabright was called to the bar in 1961 and appointed magistrate in 1964.

Until his retirement in 1989, he was recognized for his demeanour, his sense of humour inside and outside the courtroom and his booming voice.

He will be forever remembered as a colourful and spirited public servant who made a huge contribution to the delivery of justice throughout Newfoundland and Labrador.

Mr. Seabright was also a tremendous volunteer who worked hard for his community of Mount Pearl and also volunteered with provincial organizations, including VOCM.

Our deepest condolences go to his wife Madge, their son Glenn and their family.

Youth Employment

[Eve Adams, Conservative, Mississauga—Brampton South, ON]

Mr. Speaker, as summer approaches, many high school and university students will begin their summer employment.

Canada summer jobs is an important part of the Government of Canada's youth employment strategy. With an annual budget of more than $300 million, the youth employment strategy helps young Canadians obtain career information, develop employment skills, find jobs and stay employed. Getting youth started with early job experience is extremely important in helping them develop successful careers.

Economic action plan 2013 proposes an additional investment of $70 million over three years in youth employment programs. This is further to the $50 million that was invested through economic action plan 2012.

I would like the opposition members who go to the United States to talk down Canadian jobs to know that Conservatives will continue to prioritize jobs and the economy and will keep helping youth.