1997 has been in many ways a watershed for the anti corruption movement world wide. International development has been high on the agenda of first world countries and emerging international institutions like the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund since the end of the second world war. So has international trade. With international aid and international trade has come the growth, some would say an epidemic, of corruption. What is as remarkable as the phenomenon of corruption has been the response to it. For many, business people, governments, and national and international civil servants, bribery has been regarded through most of this period as simply the price of doing business internationally. For others, it has been seen as a cultural phenomenon which represents differences in moral values and business practices in different parts of the world. Some analysts have contended that corruption is a market mechanism facilitating the exchange of goods and services. As a result, the phenomenon of corruption has until recently been largely ignored. For example the World Bank took the position until very recently that corruption was a political and not an economic issue and therefore outside of its terms of reference. Many national governments and multi national companies, still take the view that to confront the problem is to put one’s own business community at risk in a cut throat, amoral, international business environment. For yet others, corruption is a fact of life to be accepted fatalistically as the price of doing business in some parts of the world.

It is not surprising, then, that when Transparency International was founded in Germany by a small group of idealists, it was thought at best a utopian venture and at worst a naive and misdirected effort to export or impose western values in the tradition of colonial imperialism. It is true that support for the idea of an international anti corruption NGO could be found among some informed and worried observers of the international scene. However, for the most part, the mission was a lonely one in spite of clear signals, for example, the American Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, that the phenomenon was a deeply disturbing one.

It is in this sense that 1997 is a watershed. For it seems that a countervailing view has begun to gain ascendancy in national and international circles. In a striking change of direction, the World Bank has now embraced corruption as an impediment both to international trade and international development. Even more striking is the growing recognition among first world governments that there is a supply as well as a demand side to bribery and corruption. The result is the OECD convention combating corruption which even as little as two years ago seemed an impossible dream.

Transparency International has played a significant and influential role in these developments. In my view, this is because it is a genuinely international voluntary sector organization that has attracted the commitment of people from all walks of life in virtually every part of the world, many of them leaders with distinguished accomplishments to their credit. It has become an effective tool for gathering the views of people from different parts of the world and presenting them effectively in international conferences and to international bodies like the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Some examples illustrate this point. TI now provides the program secretariat for the semi-annual anti corruption conferences that take place biennially, last year in Peru, two years from now in South Africa. Second, over the past year, TI has appeared before the OECD working group on bribery in international business transactions at every stage of the development of the OECD anti-corruption convention which was finalized in the closing months of 1997. TI is also a working partner with international institutions like the World Bank, international NGO’s and national governments in many parts of the world.

The Canadian Chapter has played a strong role in these developments. We were invited to organize a parallel working session on "Corruption and the Funding of Political Parties" at the 8th International Anti-Corruption Conference held from September 7-11 in Lima Peru. With the help of several TI national chapters and the national office, we recruited a distinguish panel of commentators: John Brademus, President Emeritus of New York University and Chair of the National Endowment for Democracy; Delia Matilde Ferrera Rubio, a distinguished Latin American scholar and author; S. D. Sharma, who campaigned with Mahatma Gandhi for the independence of India and is currently General Secretary of TI-India and Chair of Lok Sevak, a grass roots organization dedicated to the eradication of corruption in Indian politics; and David Shugarman, Master of McLaughlin College at York University and author of a recently published book entitled Honest Politics: Seeking Integrity in Canadian Public Life. This working session was well attended and enthusiastically received.

We have also participated actively in the efforts of TI to convince the OECD to negotiate a strong anti-corruption convention This was a sustained effort that ran throughout our first year of operation. It resulted in the creation of a working group made up of OECD country chapters. This group, coordinated by Peter Rooke, chair of the Australian chapter, monitored developments as negotiations proceeded, shared information about developments in individual countries, prepared coordinated responses which were presented to national government negotiators and advised Peter Eigen, Chair of Transparency International on the need for intervention with the OECD working group itself. This collaboration is the strongest evidence to date of the capacity of TI to represent civil society internationally in the global fight against corruption.

It is the formation of active chapters in all parts of the world that has made Transparency International an effective voice with national governments and international institutions and organizations. TI-Canada has played an leading role in encouraging the development of national chapters. TI-Papua New Guinea is modelled on the Canadian Chapter. I was invited as the Chair of the Canadian Chapter to deliver the Key Note Address at the launch of the Jamaican chapter last winter. In a recent trip to Asia and the Pacific, I delivered public addresses in Kuala Lumpur and Perth at the request of the national chapters in Malaysia and Australia. Both events were followed by lengthy interviews with newspapers widely distributed in the countries involved. I also met with leaders in the Papua New Guinea chapter where I discovered that a Canadian CUSO volunteer is serving as national coordinator. Our National Coordinator, Bronwyn Best, has also been active in this regard. On a recent trip to south Africa, Bronwyn held meetings with TI supporters and leaders in Namibia and South Africa.

TI-Canada has also been involved in a coordinated effort to advance the anti-corruption agenda in the Organization of American States. We hope to see progress at the Santiago Summit this spring. Finally, TI-Canada is cooperating with Pacific Rim chapters to bring pressure on a range of Asian international organizations to address the issue of corruption. This includes the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation forum (APEC) and the Pacific Basin Economic Council (PBEC).

TI-Canada has been very active on the home front as well. We have partnered with the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) in raising awareness of the corruption issue within the Canadian government and encouraging a strong and coordinated government response to the OECD Anti-Corruption Convention. Together we planned a day of working sessions with ministers and deputy ministers, and senior civil servants in Ottawa. This partnership is continuing in conjunction with on-going efforts by CIDA to build a coordinated, government, anti-corruption program.

Finally, we have published Newsletters, stimulated news coverage of anti-corruption issues, responded to continuous requests for information on corruption related issues on the part of the public and the press, and recruited actively for private sector support and involvement in the anti-corruption movement. Related to these efforts has been the leadership of our Vice Chairman, Michael Davies, who is the Chair of the Canadian Council of International Business Committee on Corruption and Bribery and has been working actively with the Canadian and International Chambers of Commerce to raise awareness and represent Canadian business interests on anti-corruption issues nationally and internationally.

Challenges for 1998

TI-Canada has operated since its inception out of the offices of the Business Ethics Program in the Schulich School of Business at York University. Over the course of the past year, it became increasingly clear we needed more support for our organization than the Business Ethics Program could offer if we were going to respond effectively to the information and leadership demands with which we were faced. We began to make the changes that this requires. Jim Lyttle retired from the position of National Coordinator in November to resume his duties as my research assistant. His place was taken by Bronwyn Best whose qualifications for the job are ideal and whose energy, enthusiasm and ability have provided crucial support for the Chapter over the past five months. We now have a listed telephone number and are in the process of creating an attractive Web Page. We are planning to publish a Canadian, anti-corruption best practices manual to be made available on our web page. We plan to continue active cooperation with CIDA in sensitizing the Canadian Government to the importance of the anti-corruption movement. We hope to extend our efforts to reach the public and the corporate world in cities across Canada. Our determination in this regard will be reflected in a Board that will include Anglophone and Francophone members from Toronto, Ottawa, Vancouver and Sherbrooke.

As with most voluntary sector organizations, our biggest challenge will be to build membership with a view to providing the financial support we will need in the coming year if we are to take full advantage of the changing anti-corruption environment.

Finally, I would like to close this report with a word of thanks to the many people, organizations and corporations that have supported us in our efforts. We have an active Board whose commitment of time is vital to our success. The nature of this commitment is illustrated by the involvement of Ian Marshall who has come from Vancouver to attend our Board meetings. Two members have left the Board over the course of the past year, Helen Fisch and Michael Mackenzie. Both have contributed a great deal in our first year of operation. Abe Rotstein is retiring this year after several years of involvement in launching the Canadian Chapter. The Canadian Chapter is indebted to Jim Lyttle, my research assistance, who has contributed in a number of helpful ways over the past two years. Bronwyn Best has already made her mark. I very much look forward to her continued participation in the work of the chapter over the coming year. Finally, a word of thanks to my Vice Chairman, Michael Davies, who has devoted many long hours to the work of the chapter in our first year of operation.

I look forward to the challenges that lie ahead for the Chapter in the coming year. TI-Canada has already made its mark. However, there remains much to be done. I welcome the continuing support of our members as we seek to sensitise the Canadian public to the issue of corruption in the coming year.

Respectfully submitted

Wesley Cragg
President and Chairman
Transparency International-Canada