Export Development Canada has served as Canada’s export credit agency since its foundation in 1944 and has facilitated over $1.3 trillion in exports and foreign investment by Canadian companies since then. However, in its long and mostly preposterous history, the EDC has been repeatedly plagued by controversy, as this agency many times chosen to do business with criminal, controversial, or politically dividing parties, resulting in an insecure loaning of tax-payer money and the tainting of Canada's image. 

Recent examples of these ill-advised and unethical deals came in 2014 involving the South African company, Westdawn Investments. Owned by the South African/Indian Gupta brothers, two gangsters, the deal provided the company the funds to purchase a new jet from the Canadian aerospace company, Bombardier. Widely known for their political scandals involving the former president of South Africa, the Gupta brothers were turned away by a number of international financing agencies before the EDC stepped in. Now, years after the deal was made, the Gupta brothers currently face federal arrest warrants in South Africa for stealing government funds, have defaulted on their $41 million loan from the EDC, and the jet which they purchased has gone missing. 

This embarrassing outcome of this deal and its linkage to Canada works to not only make the EDC look poorly but Canada as a whole. Lack of proper research, oversight, and risk assessment of the EDC is the ultimate cause of this case and the many others the EDC has seen over its history. 

This petition is part of a number of measures being taken by the EDCRI to push for the consideration of sterner regulation and governance of the EDC during the Legislative Review of the agency by the Government of Canada this coming June 2018. Those other measures include:

1. The EDCRI website, our Twitter, and Facebook are being shared publicly as to create awareness for this issue
2. This petition for improved regulation, oversight, and transparency of the EDC is being shared as to show public support of this initiative
3. Letters are being sent to federal government officials, including the Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance, and the Minister of International Development, advocating for the regulation of the EDC and consideration of the changes proposed by the EDCRI during the Legislative Review of the EDC this coming June.
4. And more to come…

With your support, we can ensure the EDC can continue its operations in a safe and ethical manner, as to benefit Canada, Canadians, and the world.

Visit our website for more details: regedcinitiative.wordpress.com