Money Laundering in Canada and Bill C-289
Just before the summer recess of Parliament, I introduced my Private Members Bill to give law enforcement authorities another tool to combat money laundering by organized crime in Canada. The scale of money laundering in Canada is staggering, and impacts Canada by laundering proceeds of illicit activities and driving up real estate prices for all Canadians. Experts estimate that nearly 100 Billion dollars of the proceeds of crime, such as drugs, human trafficking and political corruption, are “Snow washed” in Canada every year. Dirty money is deposited, moved around, and then channeled into legitimate investments like homes and commercial real estate.
Under our currently weak investment rules, banks and other financial agents are required to collect and verify the identity of their clients. But what if clients lie about their identity or the corporate ownership structure of the account holder? Currently, we have very lax laws about money laundering that make it difficult to prove or get a conviction. That is why global criminals view Canada as a prime destination for money laundering activity. This must end.
The legislation (Bill-289) if adopted, would make it a criminal offence for individuals or businesses to provide false information to financial institutions to conceal the illegal sources of the money or the identity of the account holders. Those who have violated the law could face a prison term of up to ten years and/or a fine of up to a million dollars CAD. This Bill will complement the publicly accessible beneficial ownership registry the Liberal Government plans to bring forward by the end of 2022. Without Bill 289, money launders will continue to get a free ride without severe punishment.
No one change will end money laundering, but we must do more to stop the illegal flow of criminal funds to Canada. That’s why I look forward to working with Members of all parties and Senators to pass this and other legislation to address this serious issue facing Canada.