Canada is such an attractive place to launder money that it even has a special name to describe the activity here: “wash snow.”
Of course, the nature of money laundering makes it impossible to measure it accurately. But a 2019 report on the use of real estate in British Columbia for money laundering It is estimated that more than $40 billion Canadian dollars are laundered each year nationally, largely through shell corporations.
Shell-running criminals are no ordinary scammers, who another British Columbia investigation found that they drained their cash at casinos by handing it over — in the form of loans to gamblers — in trash bags and hockey bags stuffed with $20 bills.
[Read: Lavish Money Laundering Schemes Exposed in Canada]
Instead, shell operators run the money through a series of intertwined conglomerates and unclear ownership, making it nearly impossible for investigators to track down illicit funds and arrest their beneficiaries.
But under a newly proposed legislative overhaul, snowwash companies may have a harder time exploiting Canada’s law, which is currently one of the weakest in the world in requiring transparency. business ownership.
This week, François-Philippe Champagne, the minister of innovation, science and industry, proposed a law that legal experts say will put Canada in line with international standards. The idea is simple. Corporations will frequently be required to report to the government the names of individuals who ultimately control them. That information will be included in a registry that — with some exceptions, such as records of companies owned by minors — will be open to anyone to see. It will also be cross-checked against tax records and sent to government agencies that monitor money laundering.
“It is a positive development if done properly,” Malcolm Aboud, a lawyer at the Osler law firm that specializes in corruption cases, told me after the legislation was presented to the House of Commons.
As with so much else in Canada, a key factor in making the proposed legislation effective is getting provincial and territorial support. Companies may incorporate provincial or territorial governments in addition to the federal government. Without provincial data, the proposed federal registry could be sabotaged.
While some provinces — including Manitoba and Prince Edward Island — have or are moving toward their own property disclosure systems, those systems are sometimes much less stringent than the new federal requirement. and their data is sometimes not made public. While Quebec is working on a system that, similar to the federal plan, will be open to the public, Ontario’s system doesn’t even have a registry for public reference. It only requires companies to keep records of their ultimate owners that the government may require.
When I asked Laurie Bouchard, a spokeswoman for Mr. Champagne, if any provinces would agree to cooperate, she replied: “We have good signals, but because we don’t have it yet, we can’t confirm anything.”
If passed, the new law would allow fines of up to C$200,000 and prison sentences of up to six months for those who ignore it. But exactly how the government will find out that criminals don’t add this to the list of laws they break is not entirely clear at this stage.
While Mr Aboud said the vast majority of companies would follow the new rules, “the final regime will only be as good as its enforcement”.
Biden’s visit to Canada culminates in new immigration rules
This morning at midnight, Roxham Road, the unofficial border crossing where immigration into Canada has increased dramatically over the past year, was closed after a long time as a conduit for refugees to seek asylum in Canada. Now asylum seekers entering the countryside in Quebec will be immediately sent back to the United States instead of being put on a bus to Montreal to await a refugee hearing.
Newly revised immigration agreement between Canada and the USannounced Friday by President Biden, made this change a reality.
Biden’s statement was one of many made during his first official visit to Canada since taking office in the Oval Office, a visit that reflects mending the United States’ relationship with the United States. neighboring countries after the relationship soured during the presidency of Donald J. Trump.
In exchange for a change to the deal, Canada will provide legal entry to 15,000 migrants from Central and South America fleeing persecution and poverty, a move intended to reduce mounting pressure on the border. southern border of the United States.
This week’s Trans-Canada column was edited by Vjosa Isai, a reporter and researcher based in Toronto.
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“I’ve never coached anyone with so much determination,” said Dawn Staley, the South Carolina women’s basketball coach. “Put her anywhere.” She was talking about Laeticia Amihere, who Basketball phenomenon born in Mississauga.
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Leaked intelligence reports related to Chinese election interference allegations Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the defensive.
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Canada welcomes the record over a million new people last year.
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Andy Byford, former executive director of the Toronto Transit Commission – whom New York City train riders nicknamed “Three Trains” after he became the city’s subway superintendent – will join Amtrak.
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Fanatics, a sports apparel company, will replace Adidas as the supplier of NHL uniforms. Selling company Shirts and fan apparel made in Canadareached a new 10-year agreement with the league.
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A US federal court has issued a lawsuit brought by a Canadian company called Free Holdingsdisputed the ownership of an NFT art piece called “Quantum”.
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The request to start a commercial undersea mining project in international waters, made by a publicly traded Canadian startup called Metals Company, is at the heart of the project. tension at an agency attached to the United Nations.
A native of Windsor, Ontario, Ian Austen was educated in Toronto, lives in Ottawa and has covered Canada for The New York Times for the past 16 years. Follow him on Twitter at @ianrausten.
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