Despite the prominence of international and transnational crime issues in the press these days, Canadians tend to think of their country as being "off the beaten track" in terms of where the real crime happens. While this is certainly the case for the commission of many international crimes -- genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes come to mind -- it is a decidedly complacent view when it comes to transnational crime. Canada is often mentioned in international law enforcement circles as a country of high technology but lax enforcement, creating a perfect storm of opportunity for organized crime of various sorts. Not to mention terrorism (think R. v. Khawaja and some of the "Toronto 18") and white collar crime.
A quick look at today's Globe & Mail reveals some facts that should (but won't) break Canadians out of their lassitude. Calgary Oil giant Niko Resources is reportedly set to plead guilty to charges under the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act, arising from the bribery of a junior energy minister in Bangladesh who was assessing what compensation should be awarded to villagers who were injured and suffered property damage after explosions at one of Niko's drilling sites.
Canada is party to the OECD Convention Against Corruption and the UN Convention Against Corruption. [1] However, Transparency International recently identified Canada as being weak on enforcement against corruption, naming us alongside such states as Greece, Slovakia and Slovenia. The only conviction under the Act was in 2005, reached via a plea agreement with a small Alberta company. The Niko plea apparently resulted from rewnewed effort by the RCMP to investigate corruption cases such as these, which is a positive development.
Further up in the Globe, we find out that the UN's World Drug Report for 2011 identifies Canada as a leading site for the manufacture and export of synthetic drugs like ecstasy and crystal meth. A number of police officials are quoted in the story, their frustration barely concealed as they discuss Canada's "lax" laws on import and trade of the precursor chemicals for these designer drugs (though a new law apparently came into force yesterday -- more on that later). Canada's famed multiculturalism is framed darkly by references to the many markets and trade routes established by Canadians and immigrants with "familial ties" to China and India.
The language seems hyperbolic at first glance, but I don't think it is. Canada is becoming a hub of transnational organized crime. No one would ever accuse me of being a "law and order" type, but this is definitely an area to which some of our scarce public resources should be dedicated. The price paid by Canadians and by foreign victims of crime is high, indeed.
This also underscores another of my pet themes, which is that Canadian criminal lawyers, whether Crown, defence or judges, need to become more conversant with international law -- particularly because the basis of many of our newer criminal provisions and statutes was the implementation of international treaty norms.
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[1] Incidentally, on page 340 of my book, Canada is identified as having signed but not ratified the UN Convention on Corruption. In fact, the UNODC website indicates that Canada ratified on 2 October 2007. That page must have been out of date when I was doing the research for the book. This will be corrected in the 2nd edition (if there is one).