Corruption

Jessica McDiarmid – March 13, 2013

Canada spent about $10 million on security in Afghanistan at its $50-million Dahla dam project, where private security contractors were linked to allegations of corruption and involved in an armed standoff with Canadian security officials.

One of Canada’s signature projects in Afghanistan, the Dahla dam was guarded in part by Watan Risk Management, a controversial Afghan security firm with alleged ties to crime and corruption. How much they were paid remains secret.

Tony Van Alphen – March 12, 2013

York University staff knew about alleged fraud in a key campus division but didn’t alert senior management because of fears of reprisals, according to university documents.

An unidentified number of current and former employees were not willing to come forward in 2009 with allegations of abuse, harassment, bullying and financial improprieties against a senior administrator at a time when York had no whistleblower protection, university affadavits and an internal audit report show.

Jeff Todd And David McFadden – February 28, 2013

Arthur Porter, the former head of Canada’s spy watchdog, says he has late, stage-four cancer and is too ill to travel from the Bahamas to Canada to face investigators over allegations of fraud in one of the country’s priciest infrastructure projects.

Dr. Porter said if Canadian investigators want to question him they should fly to the Bahamas. “I don’t want them to think I would chicken out on anything,” he told The Associated Press during an interview in his home in an upscale, gated community. “So if they want to come here, absolutely no problem.”

Brian Daly – February 27th, 2013

Dr. Arthur Porter, former head of Canada's spy watchdog, is one of five men facing arrest for alleged kickbacks involving the McGill superhospital. Quebec's anti-corruption unit is also looking for Pierre Duhaime and Riadh Ben Aissa, both fired last year from Montreal engineering giant SNC-Lavalin.

SNC is building the $2.3-billion McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), a massive complex that Porter oversaw until his resignation early last year. Quebec's permanent anti-corruption squad says Porter and the other suspects face charges including fraud against the government, conspiracy and recycling proceeds of crime.