In its submission to Ottawa’s 2018 Legislative Review of the Export Development Act, Probe International calls for a repeal of the Act and the privatization of Export Development Canada (EDC). Probe argues the federal government’s export-financing agency shares many of the same characteristics as China’s controversial state-owned enterprises (SOEs), characteristics that ensure market distortion and stunt private development.
Patricia Adams
Patricia Adams is an economist and the Executive Director of Probe International, an independent think-tank and watchdog over the environmental consequences of Canadian government and corporate activities around the world. Her books include In the Name of Progress: The Underside of Foreign Aid, (Doubleday 1985), and Odious Debts: Loose Lending, Corruption and the Third World”s Environmental Legacy (Earthscan 1991), which exposes the jeopardy of years of loose lending for both the Third World’s environment and their economies, and proposes a legal remedy to place responsibility for the Third World’s debt crisis on the parties involved, instead of on First and Third World taxpayers. Pat also edited the English language translation of Yangtze! Yangtze!, the extraordinary critique by Chinese experts of the Three Gorges dam that inspired the democracy movement when it was first published in 1989, led to the postponement of the dam, and was subsequently banned by Chinese authorities. Her books have been translated into Spanish, Chinese, Japanese and Bahasa Indonesia.
No DPAs
Read Probe International’s submission to the Government of Canada’s invitation to Canadians for their views on potential enhancements to the Integrity Regime and on considerations regarding the possible adoption of a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) regime in Canada. Probe International’s response: No DPAs. Learn why.
World Bank dupes our Supreme Court
A Supreme Court decision involving the World Bank and Canadian engineering giant SNC-Lavalin could threaten fair trials for falsely accused Canadians in the future and help corrupt Canadians to escape punishment. Patricia Adams of Probe International for the Financial Post.
Deterrence lost in plea deals
Deferred prosecution agreements that let companies pay fines for wrongdoing could backfire by encouraging repeat criminality. Probe International’s Patricia Adams for the National Post.
No winners in corporate shakedown
DPAs were virtually unheard of in business settings prior to 2004, but their growing popularity in the U.S. is now being felt in Canada with SNC-Lavalin lobbying the Liberal government to have its fate determined by a DPA, rather than the criminal trial the Harper government pursued.
China’s climate power game
China’s Communist party won’t curb the country’s CO2 emissions – doing so could lead to their overthrow.
Patricia Adams: China must free activists who championed environment and the rule of law
China must free Guo Yushan and He Zhengjun and restore confidence in their country.
Chinese authorities crack down on the country’s public interest groups and lawyers
On July 9, more than 100 lawyers in China issued an open letter on the Internet calling for an end to the shuttering of public interest groups and the detention and prosecution of individuals working for the public good.
Saving China’s environment
Read in full Patricia Adams’ closing address to the International Symposium on China’s Environmental Crisis: Is There a Way Out? A resounding “Yes!” says Ms. Adams. “Give power to the people”.
Why food aid fuels international conflict
A recent study by Harvard and Yale economists asks a question few in the aid community ask, after finding that food aid prolongs civil conflict and supports rebel groups by feeding them or providing them with goods that can be traded for arms or other services.
Ukraine’s odious debts
Ukraine’s national news agency, Ukrinform, asked Probe International’s Patricia Adams to weigh in on Ukraine’s multibillion-dollar debt to Russia and whether Ukraine could challenge the enforceability of the US$3 billion Eurobond using an odious debts argument.
Argentina’s cronies are fair game
Argentineans would not need to suffer if assets hidden from creditors could be recovered.
More and more, poor countries are holding elections to qualify for foreign aid
(May 27, 2014) Aid agencies are coming to realize that foreign aid itself may undermine democracy.
The probe of Three Gorges officials is getting too close for Communist Party leaders
(April 21, 2014) China’s roving corruption crackdown has uncovered nepotism, shady property deals and dodgy bidding procedures at the country’s state-owned Three Gorges Dam operator, Three Gorges Corporation. The news has reignited public anger over a project funded by a special levy paid for by Chinese citizens and has sparked speculation that President Xi Jinping is using Three Gorges as a way to target two of China’s biggest “tigers”.
China Three Gorges Corp bosses replaced after graft probe
(March 26, 2014) China’s central government replaces leadership at state-owned Three Gorges Corp. following graft probe. Signals suggest “it is probable there will be further investigations into corruption inside the corporation,” says Probe International’s Patricia Adams.
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