The company was asked to negotiate a reorganization agreement in exchange for the suspension of charges. A Canadian first for an international corruption case.

It’s really a tool that we’ve been missing in Canada and that will make a big positive difference. We were looking forward to thatsays Stéphanie Rousseau, head of the RCMP’s anti-corruption team.

Before, companies had no reason to work with the RCMP. So the investigation took longershe said in an interview with Radio-Canada this summer.

This tool allows Canadian companies who discover crimes committed by some of their employees to report it to the police without fear of prosecution and destroying the company.confirms his colleague Guy-Michel Nkili, who is in charge of the operations of this elite unit, the only one in the country to investigate international corruption.

The agreements allow companies to recognize their wrongdoing, pay a fine and implement measures to better regulate their business practices.

” If the company fails to honor the reorganization agreement, it could go to court. »

Companies can thus continue to participate in public contracts, avoiding punishment of workers who have not committed crimes. Offensive employees can still be sued individually.

The reorganization agreement regime was introduced in 2018 in the wake of the SNC-Lavalin scandal. The Quebec engineering flagship was desperate to avoid a criminal conviction for paying bribes in Libya that would have cut it off from public contracts in Canada and threatened thousands of jobs.

This type of agreement already exists in the United States and the United Kingdom.

A critical review

We have signed the OECD Convention [sur la lutte contre la corruption d’agents publics étrangers] in 1998. It’s time to see results, laments Susan Côté-Freeman, President of Transparency International Canada. This NGO published a report on the subject last October.

In 23 years, only one person and four companies have been convicted of international corruption in the country.

It’s not enough. It would be surprising if there weren’t more casessays Ms. Côté-Freeman.

It’s not because we don’t work fast or aren’t competent. It’s really the nature and complexity of the investigations that make it impossible to do this quickly.explains Ms. Rousseau, who says that her team has the necessary resources to carry out its mission.

Yes, our investigation is lengthy, but that’s the nature of the crime. These are historical crimes. We must follow the money trail. Trying to get financial documents from a 15-year-old crime is difficultadds his colleague Guy-Michel Nkili.

The biggest hurdle we face is getting evidence from other countriesconfirms Ms Rousseau, who adds that some countries refuse to cooperate with the Canadian authorities.

However, there is no statute of limitations for crimes of international corruption. If the crime happened 15 years ago, the person can be charged tomorrow morningsaid Mrs. Rousseau.

lack of transparency

The President of Transparency International Canada argues that the public should be given more information about the RCMP’s work. We don’t have stats. It is not known what investigations are underway. What’s happening? There is a lack of transparencysays Ms. Côté-Freeman.

It wouldn’t make sense to talk about these polls or cite numbers, and it could be really damaging to shareholders for companies that are often publicly tradedexplains Mrs. Rousseau.

Our success is the secret of our investigations. I think it’s important that people trust us and then judge us based on our results.adds Guy Michel Nkili. [Les accords de réparation]that we didn’t have before will help us complete some investigations faster.