Harmonious Coexistence: Law and Laundering in Canada
| Author | Sanaa Ahmed |
| Profession | Assistant Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, University of Calgary |
| Pages | 277-302 |
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twelve
Harmonious Coexistence:
Law and Laundering in Canada
SANAA AHMED*
A. INTRODUCTION
Canada’s growing reputation as a premier onshore destination for laun-
dered monies from across the globe is now a matter of public record.
Despite an ostensibly well-regulated nancial sector, strict anti-money
laundering (AML) compliance rules for many sectors of the economy
and an adherence to global AML regulation, Canada frequently makes
* Assistant Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, University of Calgary. is chapter
stems from research conducted as a Killam postdoctoral fellow at the Schulich
School of Law, Dalhousie University, from to . e author wishes to
acknowledge the generosity of the Killam Foundation in funding this project.
In this chapter, “money laundering” and “illicit nancial ows” are used inter-
changeably, unless otherwise suggested by the context.
Entities bound to report suspicions of laundering include nancial institutions,
money service businesses, real estate dealers, securities dealers, accountants, agents
of the Crown, British Columbia notaries, casinos, dealers in precious metals and
stones, as well as life insurance. However, lawyers and notaries are exempt from
reporting due to a Supreme Court judgment that held that the practice would
breach client-attorney privilege. See Canada (Attorney General) v Federation of Law
Societies of Canada, SCC . Car dealerships, private mortgage and lending busi-
nesses, and auction houses are some others that are similarly exempt. See PeterM.
German, Dirty Money — Part : Turning the Tide — An Independent Review of
Money Laundering in B.C. Real Estate, Luxury Vehicle Sales & Horse Racing (),
online: https://cullencommission.ca/les/Dirty_Money_Report_Part_.pdf.
278
headlines for money laundering. Most of these headlines focus on the
link between laundering and predicate crimes: drug tracking (especially
in opioids), organized crime and, more recently, fraudulent applications
under pandemic benets programs. Occasionally, however, big business
has also been linked with laundering. In , for example, a govern-
ment-initiated inquiry into corruption within the construction industry
in Quebec showed the intimate linkages between Maa-type criminal
organizations and domestic politicians, big business, and service industry
professionals (lawyers, accountants, etc.). In the same year, SNC Lavalin
was charged with the bribery of foreign ocials under the Corruption of
Foreign Public Ocials Act.
However, the real game changers were the Panama and Paradise
Papers revelations between and . Till then, the government as
well as the media had characterised laundering as the preserve of career
criminals and the odd corporate actor. e latter, particularly, were thought
of as delinquents who infrequently engaged in one-o laundering events.
In sharp contrast, then, both the Panama and Paradise data leaks showed
the systemic nature of money laundering in Canada: neither was laundering
Marco Chown Oved, “Corporate Secrecy Makes Canada a Haven for White-Collar
Crime, Says Report” Toronto Star ( December ), online: www.thestar.com/
news/world////report-corporate-secrecy-makes-canada-a-haven-for-
white-collar-crime.html.
Catharine Tunney, “Organized Crime ‘Knowingly and Actively’ Exploited Federal
Pandemic Benets: Intelligence Reports” CBC News ( November ), online:
www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cerb-organized-crime-..
eCharbonneau Commission, ocially called the Commission of Inquiry on the
Awarding and Management of Public Contracts in the Construction Industry, was
a public inquiry into corruptionin the management of public construction con-
tracts in Quebec. For critical reads on the report, see Margaret E. Beare, “Shadow
Boxing Against the Crimes of the Powerful” in Steve Bittle et al, eds, Revisiting
Crimes of the Powerful: Marxism, Crime & Deviance (New York: Routledge Press,
); Denis St. Martin, “Systemic Corruption in an Advanced Welfare State: Les-
sons from the Québec Charbonneau Inquiry” () : Osgoode Legal Studies
Research Paper No. ; online: https://digitalcommons.osgoode.yorku.ca/cgi/
viewcontent.cgi?article=&context=olsrps.
e charges were brought by the RCMP and the Public Prosecution Service of
Canada (PPSC) for SNC Lavalin’s activities in Libya between and . e
case ended in a plea deal. See Peter Zimonjic, “After Year of Political Turmoil,
SNC-Lavalin Gets Most of What It Wanted in Plea Deal” CBC (December
), online: www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canada-wilson-raybould-snc-lavalin-
.. Corruption of Foreign Public Ocials Act, SC , c.
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