Canadian Task Force Against Global Corruption

Combatting Grand Corruption Internationally
The bad governance that so often causes forced displacement is almost always associated with corruption. Grand corruption weakens and distracts governments, making it less likely that they will meet their responsibility to protect their own population. Furthermore, corruption discourages donors, compounding the difficulty in funding efforts to assist refugees and the internally displaced.
WRMC addressed the scourge of corruption in Un llamado a la acción: Transformar el sistema global de refugio, stressing accountability and proposing that when stolen funds are found offshore, they ought not only to be frozen but also confiscated and re-purposed for the benefit of the displaced, as proposed in the Frozen Assets Repurposing Act Bill now before the Canadian Senate.
WRMC has also become deeply involved in the global effort to promote the creation of an International Anti-Corruption Court (IACC) and succeeded in persuading both major political parties in Canada to include the proposal in their election platforms, as well as in the December 2021 Mandate Letter to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The Task Force has two key priorities:
- Promote the Foreign Assets Repurposing Act, which has now had a second reading as a private member’s bill in the Senate as a complement to existing Magnitsky legislation and the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act.
- Advocate for the creation of the IACC in close collaboration with our US partner, Integrity Initiatives International.
News & Resources
- Combating Corruption Internationally a Top Foreign Policy Priority for Canadians
- Canadians overwhelmingly support an International Anti-Corruption Court
- Communiqué de presse : Le Conseil mondial pour les réfugiés et la migration lance un groupe de travail canadien de haut niveau contre la corruption mondiale
- An international court to crack down on corruption — Peter MacKay, The National Post
- Canada Should Lead in Creating an International Court to Fight Corruption — Lloyd Axworthy and Fen Osler Hampson, Toronto Star
- Projet de loi S-217 : Loi sur la réaffectation de certains biens saisis, bloqués ou mis sous séquestre
- Repurposing Frozen Assets to Assist the Forcibly Displaced — Research Paper
- Lettre de mandat de la ministre des Affaires étrangères
- Declaration in Support of the Creation of an International Anti-Corruption Court —Integrity Initiatives International
- Deterring Kleptocracy Demands an International Anti-Corruption Court — Susana Malcorra and Ian J. Lynch, Global Governance Forum
- Wholesale Corruption Causing a Democracy Deficit — Fen Hampson, Diplomat Magazine
- World Needs Canada to Champion an International Anti-corruption Court — Farid Rohani, Toronto Star
- Taking the Climate Crisis Seriously Requires Ambitious Anti-Corruption Solutions — Ian J. Lynch and Maja Groff, The Diplomat
Write us at info@wrmcouncil.org with inquiries or to receive updates about the work of the Task Force.
Integrantes del grupo de trabajo

Hon. Lloyd Axworthy
Chair, World Refugee & Migration Council

Prof. Olabisi Akinkugbe
Viscount Bennett Professor of Law, Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University

Prof. Robert Currie
Schulich School of Law, Dalhousie University

Dr. Peter German
President, International Centre for Criminal Law Reform, Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia

Ms. Maja Groff
Global Governance Forum and Convenor of the Climate Governance Commission

Prof. Fen Osler Hampson
President, World Refugee & Migration Council and Chancellor’s Professor, Carleton University

Mr. Ian Lynch
Integrity Initiatives International (observer)

Hon. Peter MacKay
Former Attorney General of Canada and Minister of Justice and Foreign Affairs

Hon. Lorna Marsden
Former Canadian Senator and president of York and Wilfrid Laurier Universities

Ms. Sabine Nölke
Ambassador (Ret.)

Hon. Ratna Omidvar
Human Rights and Migration Advocate

Ms. Maureen O'Neil
Former President of the International Development Research Centre

Mr. Christopher Ram
Counsel to Justice Canada, Lawyer and Criminologist (Ret.)

Dr. Angus Reid
CEO & Founder, Angus Reid Global

Hon. Allan Rock
Former Attorney General of Canada and Minister of Justice

Mr. Farid Rohani
Member of the Board, Integrity Initiatives International

Mr. Jeff Stoub
Director of Communications, World Refugee & Migration Council

Hon. Mark Wolf
Integrity Initiatives International and Senior United States District Judge (ex officio)