Transparency International has just released its 2006 "Corruption Perception Index" and after a pretty rough ride (think Sponsorship Scandal and the subsequent Accountability Act as countermeasure) Canada manages to rank a reasonable 14th of a possible 163 (Haiti finished last, just below Iraq and Myanmar/Burma).
It's a pretty interesting little snapshot of the state of world governments, although the results are just the wrong side of objective according to certain "experts." Still, it puts things into perspective. No surprise that Northern Europe ranks decisively in the top 'least corrupt' spots, and as The Economist points out, Italy proves that corruption and poverty don't always correlate (the essential thrust of the analysis of this table) by ranking a dismal 45 (even the US manages a top 20 finish, in, well, 20th place).
1 comment:
Actually, after living in Helsinki for a couple of years, you get a real feel for the non-corruptness of the place. I'm serious. Nobody, but nobody would get away with what happens in the US and Canada (never mind Haiti) in terms of passing the buck, but on the other hand people just don't get themselves into that kind of trouble here.
In small towns in northern Finland, they say you can see 250-pound biker dudes waiting at 2 in the morning to cross the street, not a car in sight, and they still wait for the light to turn green. It's just the proper way to do things here--it seems both creepy and naive until you just learn to accept it and ignore the hateful glances as you jaywalk.
But point being that it's not a matter of the governments being corrupt; it's what the entire society sees as "the way to get things done." And the distress comes from, IMHO, Canadians preferring to believe they're more upright as a nation than they actually are.
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