White Collar Crime In Canada (Genre: Society)

Defining, "White Collar Crime," is financially motivated nonviolent crime committed for illegal monetary gain. White Collar Crime is similar to corporate crime as white-collar employees are more likely to commit fraud, bribery, insider trading, embezzlement, cybercrime, money laundering, identity theft, copyright infringement and forgery.

"White Collar Crime," consists of occupational crime and corporate crime. Occupational crime refers to offences committed against businesses or government by those with "respectable" social status. It includes the embezzlement of corporate funds, tax evasion, computer crime and expense-account fraud. Corporate crime refers to offences committed by legitimate institutions to further their own interests and includes conspiring to fix the prices of goods or services, the dumping of pollutants, the payment of kickbacks by manufacturers to retailers, misleading advertising, selling unsafe drugs and so on.

In Canada, most occupational crime is prohibited under the Canadian Criminal Code, which is enforced by municipal or provincial police, a complicated procedure because the suspects are often employees of the institutions from which they are stealing, and the employers either do not discover the theft quickly or prefer to avoid publicity by not reporting the loss. The culprit may be fired or asked to make restitution. Corporate crimes are prohibited by a wide variety of federal, provincial and municipal laws.

Talking about protecting its citizens from white collar crime and predatory practices within the investment industry, Canada resembles a third world country and though many Canadians are oblivious to this situation, the sophisticated players know all too well and are shy of investing here-while fraudsters and scam artists are drawn to Canada by the attraction of weak laws and virtually non-existent enforcement.

Enforcement is the responsibility of government inspectors who generally have fewer powers than police to detain suspects and search for evidence. Contrary to common belief, corporate crimes cause far more financial harm and many more personal injuries (some leading to death) than do traditional crimes such as theft, robbery and assault. Compared to other Western countries, fines are low and enforcement infrequent, currently in Canada.

Other laws directed at corporate crime include the Food and Drugs Act (preventing the sale of contaminated food and drugs); Hazardous Products Act (preventing the sale of dangerous items); Weights and Measures Act (preventing dishonest scales); Environmental Protection Acts, both federal and provincial; laws to protect the investor against unscrupulous promoters and brokers; and laws to ensure that workers are not exploited, eg., by being forced to work 18-hour days in unventilated facilities.

However, these laws are not always stringently enforced; in general, authorities use persuasion first, and criminal sanctions as a last resort; when cases do go to court, they take longer, are more likely to be appealed by the defendant and to lead to an acquittal or withdrawal by the Crown, and are less likely to lead to imprisonment than comparable Criminal Code cases. At present, laws against occupational crime do not include most kinds of computer crime, such as breaking computer codes and copying confidential records. However, the Copyright Act is at present being amended so that it can cover computer software.

Legal reform is needed to enforce laws against corporate crime. In 1986 the maximum fine for conspiracy offences was increased to $10 million (an important if the symbolic step since judges traditionally do not assess fines anywhere near the maximum allowable amount for corporate crimes), and banks and crown corporations engaging in commercial activities are now subject to the competition laws.

Together with the 1976 amendments extending the laws to prohibit price fixing by professionals, setting heavier sanctions for misleading advertising and prohibiting deceptive selling practices, such as bait and switch and pyramid sales, the laws on competition have been thoroughly revised. It remains to be seen whether or not this will lessen its frequency or modify the harm corporate crime does.

Attempts to strengthen environmental protection or minimum wage laws have frequently been defeated by corporate threats to close up shop, eliminating badly needed jobs; and the public, not realizing the damage caused by corporate crime, has been slow to demand reform.