Liberal MP Pam Damoff (Oakville North-Burlington, ON) said Canadians who think the federal government is corrupt should see how it compares to Afghanistan, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. “I have been told the government is corrupt,” said Damoff in a speech at the House of Commons Ethics Committee (CEC).“I often say to people, take a look at Afghanistan.”If people want to see a country where there are terrorists running it, Damoff said they should look at the Middle East. “You’ve got Afghanistan where women and girls have no rights at all,” she said. “It really troubles me when people are making comparisons to other countries around the world like Russia, comparing Canada to that.”She made her remarks during CEC hearings on cabinet attempts to quash a 2019 criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin. SNC-Lavalin pled guilty to fraud in Quebec Provincial Court in 2019 and was fined $280 million. Advocacy group Transparency International cited the SNC-Lavalin case as a reason for dropping Canada from eighth to 12th place on its global index of perceived public sector corruption. Canada ranked behind Denmark, Finland, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg and Ireland on the 2023 Corruptions Perception Index. “Gaining and retaining public trust remains an ongoing challenge for institutions in Canada,” said former ethics commissioner Mario Dion. “This is evidenced by data published by credible international organizations that provide a broad indication of levels of public trust.”When transparency allows light to be shined on conflicts of interest, Dion said public trust tends to erode. “At the same time, the more issues of public integrity become salient, the better the public understands that safeguarding democratic institutions is a perpetual endeavour,” said Dion. Dion said in a 2019 report Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his political aides attempted to interfere in the SNC-Lavalin case. The report counted 49 meetings and phone calls to save it from prosecution. He complained investigators were denied full disclosure of Privy Council Office documents in the case. “I was therefore prevented from looking over the entire body of evidence,” he said. The CEC decided in October against Conservative wishes RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme would not have to testify about the decision not to investigate SNC-Lavalin.READ MORE: Libs, Bloc, NDP, block motion for RCMP commish to testify on SNC LavalinIt met to examine the RCMP’s decision not to pursue an investigation into it. What emerged was a decision by all parties except the Conservatives that Duheme would not have to testify.
