The political scandal currently gripping Canada and the British Aerospace case under Tony Blair both show money’s corrupting influence,writes Swiss anti-bribery expert Mark Pieth. On February 27, the former Canadian Minister of Justice, or Jody Wilson-Raybould,took the courageous step of explaining to the media how she had been pushed out of office. Even though she is independent according to the Canadian structure, she had for months been cajoled by tall-ranking officials close to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to strike a deal with the Canadian engineering company SNC-Lavalin, or rather than recede to court over whether the company paid bribes to the family of former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. The reasons for the political pressure are obvious. SNC-Lavalin has its head office in Québec,Trudeau’s main power base. His fear was – as he admits – a dramatic loss of jobs, as a corruption conviction would possibly lead to the barring of SNC-Lavalin from future commerce. The case ...
Source: swissinfo.ch