Canada reels from corruption scandals
Country shocked as mayor of Montreal is arrested, Toronto mayor fights drug claims and Senate in Ottawa faces expenses controversy
Canada, among the 10 least corrupt countries in the world the past six years, according to rankings by Transparency International, is mired in scandals.
Montreal Mayor Michael Applebaum was arrested by Quebec's anti-corruption task force on Monday over fraud allegations, adding to controversies rocking political circles in Toronto and Ottawa that have taken the shine off Canada's image as a squeaky-clean nation. Applebaum quit on Tuesday, saying he plans to focus on defending himself against the "unfounded" accusations.
We do not have as pristine a reputation internationally as we once did
The scandals risk denting Canada's reputation as a largely corruption-free country. Canada has not fallen below the top 10 of Transparency International's corruption perception index since 2006 and rose to as high as sixth in 2010.
"We do not have as pristine a reputation internationally as we once did," said Richard Leblanc, a law professor at York University in Toronto. "There seems to be a culture of entitlement and lack of controls and lack of oversight, which needs to be addressed."
In Toronto, the mayor of Canada's biggest city, Rob Ford, is surrounded by allegations he was caught on camera smoking crack cocaine. In Ottawa, a controversy over Senate expenses is the first scandal to touch Prime Minister Stephen Harper's inner circle, costing him his chief of staff last month.
Applebaum faces 14 criminal charges linked to two real estate transactions that involved "tens of thousands of dollars" in illegal payments between 2006 and 2011, Robert Lafreniere, head of Quebec's anti-corruption unit, told reporters in Montreal. Applebaum was arrested at his home, police said in a statement posted on the provincial government's website.