Canada, world class Olympics, world class athletes. Investor protection: world class embarassment

Having been overwhelmed by the outstanding Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, we can see how capable Canadians are and how proud we can be of Canada. Turning to investor protection and the prosecution of white collar criminals reveals a secret that appears to be something that is not being addressed.

To begin, take some specific information presented on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), Sunday News show which aired November 23, 2008.

$700,528	salary and compensation for David Wilson, head of the OSC, 2007
2	the number of criminal prosecutions for securities fraud in Canada for 2002 - 2007
$158,500	salary and compensation for David Cox, head of the SEC, 2007
1,236	the number of criminal prosecutions for securities fraud in the US for 2002 - 2007
17x	How much larger the average fine is for securities fraud in the US compared to the comparable fines levied in Canada

The numbers become even more embarassing to think that the SEC is responsible for 300 million Americans while the OSC isn't even responsible for 30 million Canadians. Furthermore, with a salary that is over 4 times that of his US counterpart, David Wilson remains at the helm of the OSC. I recall no outcry, no disgust, no media frenzy -- now we really know we are in Canada.

Looking now at what our criminals face, Earl Jones received a sentence for 11 years, but may be out in 2 years. The blatantly guilty Garth Drabinsky and his henchman Myron Gottlieb have spent something like 6 hours in jail thus far and it appears that it will be some time before will waste more taxpayer's money in an attempt to stay out of jail.

How do we remove these ugly examples of Canada's attitude towards these criminals and make Canadian's proud on the world stage in financial justice?