"Moral Panics" Deflected: The Failed Legislative Response to Canada's Safety Crimes and Markets Fraud Legislation

Crime Law Soc Change (2011) 56:373387

DOI 10.1007/s10611-011-9303-8

Published online: 28 April 2011# Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011

Abstract This paper critically examines the enforcement, or lack thereof, of criminal laws relating to corporate crime. Using Canada's recently enacted corporate criminal liability (safety crimes) and markets fraud legislation as its empirical focus, it seeks to explain why these laws were introduced, only to fall into a state of virtual disuse. The authors explain how, in the wake of yet another crisis in capitalism, the state felt compelled to enact criminal laws to offset the abuses of corporate power in these two arenas. However, despite promises to 'get tough' on corporate crime, the enforcement of both laws has been sporadic and, in many respects, non-existent. The authors argue that both the passage and the ineffectiveness of Canada's safety crimes and markets fraud legislation can be traced to their shared Keynesian origins as responses to a crisis in neoclassical economics. In essence, both laws are caught-up in a tug-of-war between two opposing yet not incompatible visions of how best to regulate the capitalist marketplace. As a result, even if some corporations and corporate actors are held to legal account, the underlying causes of corporate crime, including the class-based exploitation that is fundamental to capitalism, remain untouched. The authors conclude by arguing for enforcement of corporate crime laws that recognizes the limits of this struggle and the necessity to stave-off capitalism's endemic harms.

Introduction

The first decade of the 21 century has witnessed renewed interest in the regulation of corporate crimes. In Canada, evidence of this surfaced with the introduction of laws dealing with safety crimes and capital markets fraud. In 2003 the federal government introduced Bill C-45, An Act to Amend the Criminal Code (criminal liability of organizations), creating a legal duty for all persons directing work to take reasonable steps to ensure the safety of workers and the public and attributing criminal liability

S. Bittle (*)

University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON, Canada e-mail: [email protected]

L. Snider

Queens University, Kingston, ON, Canada

Moral Panics Deflected: The Failed Legislative Response to Canadas Safety Crimes and Markets Fraud Legislation

Steven Bittle & Laureen Snider

374 S. Bittle, L. Snider

to an organization if a senior officer knew or ought...