Good evening, Chairman and members of the committee.

Last week I received an invitation to appear before this committee, and I'm pleased to do so. I appreciate that you're working late in the evening and I also appreciate the interest that you're taking in this most important topic.

I was asked to appear primarily as a result of reports that I completed at the request of British Columbia's attorney general, David Eby, in 2018 and 2019. The first, “Dirty Money”, related to allegations of money laundering in B.C.'s casinos. The second, “Dirty Money - Part 2”, related to allegations of money laundering in other sectors, including luxury cars and real estate. Both reports are freely available on the Internet.

I should also indicate that I am currently president of the International Centre for Criminal Law Reform, a UN-affiliated NGO located at the University of British Columbia. ICCLR, as it is known, was heavily engaged in an exchange with Chinese universities and government during the 1990s and well into the first decade of this century. lt was a robust program that involved lectures in China by our associates on matters related to criminal law and the rule of law, and hosting visiting dignitaries and scholars from China. We remain in contact with a fellow UN affiliate at the Beijing Normal University. If there is anything that ICCLR can do to further Canada-China relations, as we have in the past, one need only ask.

On a personal note, in 1996 I visited China with ICCLR and lectured at universities and at the procuratorate, the equivalent to our prosecution service, on the topic of money laundering. On other occasions, I visited Hong Kong and Macau. lt is an amazing country and people. I am strong in my opinion that the Canada-China relationship is of critical importance to our country. Canada is much better for its large Chinese diaspora, which has not only fuelled the economy but is hard-working, engaged in the community and proud to be Canadian. We need immigration from China and we need capital from China.

I'm also a retired deputy commissioner of the RCMP, having spent many years working on financial crime and heading that work in the force. As such, I visited numerous Asian countries and liaised with their national police services. The topic of interest to you, however, stems from my work on organized crime and money laundering, which resulted in the “Dirty Money” reports. ln the first report, I outlined and provided graphs that depict how underground bankers in Canada and China were able to euphemistically “clip their ticket at both ends” by both facilitating capital outflow from China in violation of Chinese currency controls and launder the proceeds of crime in Canada. High-worth individuals would deposit money with an underground banker in China, fly to Vancouver and be given a bag of cash on arrival. They could do with it as they wished, and many chose to gamble at casinos. The source of wealth of the Chinese individuals was, in most cases, unknown, but quite possibly legitimate. Their goal was to invest or use their money overseas. The money they were given upon arrival was primarily the proceeds of domestic and international drug trafficking. This process became known as the “Vancouver model”.

I will end by saying that China is known to be very tough on domestic drug trafficking. The issue is Chinese organized crime groups that operate around the world outside China, including the Big Circle Boys and the triads, which utilize familial connections and networks to distribute drugs manufactured in Guangdong province and elsewhere to the world. Let me be very clear, however: Canadians consume those drugs and buy the illegal commodities, so blame should not be unidirectional. Furthermore, it is important to realize that organized crime today is global in its reach, forms alliances as required, is not confined to one ethnicity and is not commodity specific.

Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you, and I am happy to answer any questions that you may have.

Transcript

Discussions (0)