The historic Magna Carta delivered a mandate to parliaments to guard against corruption within its government sectors, particularly the type of actions that take place because of a lack of accountability to its citizens regarding the use of their tax money. In that case, a parliament’s job is to sound the alarm.

For fifteen years, John Williams served with me in the House of Commons as the Member of Parliament for Edmonton - St. Albert (AB), and as a member of – and eventually as – the eight-year chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee. During those years, we observed something alarming: a general lack of accountability to Parliament in government sectors.
Our observations as parliamentarians motivated us to co-found the non-partisan Global Organization of Parliamentarians Against Corruption or GOPAC, with the hope of engaging and supporting parliamentarians in the fight to eradicate corruption in governance.

Why are our efforts important? Because corruption in governments filters quickly out to the country’s citizens, bringing devastating consequences. Says Williams, now the CEO of GOPAC: “No one votes for poverty, yet we see misery and despair around the world, mostly due to parliamentarians who do not or will not exercise democratic accountability over their government.”

The initial GOPAC conference in Ottawa drew in over 170 parliamentarians and 400 observers dedicated to fighting corruption. Since 2002, the organization has broadened to include members from more than 40 countries around the world. It employs and educates numerous global task forces mandated to investigate and confront specific areas of concern.

GOPAC is the only international network of parliamentarians with the sole mission of fighting government corruption. Most members are current or former legislators; others are legislators who, because of corruption in their countries, have been denied the right of office.

I remain heavily involved in GOPAC. I spoke at the Commonwealth Conference in Fiji, an occasion that sparked interest in delegates from many African and East Asian countries. They returned to their countries and founded local GOPAC chapters.

The Canadian chapter of GOPAC will focus on several countries in the Caribbean that wish to combat corruption and partner with us. GOPAC will have its sixth annual conference in Manila, Philippines early next year.

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The audio version of Garry's Sept. 17, 2012 op-ed column can be heard by clicking here