Will Canada provide justice for Bre-X's Felderhof?

Well, it looks like Felderhof was convinced by two events to return to Canada "to clear his family name".

In the U.S. Ebbers was found guilty on all counts within weeks, and faces up to 85 years in prison. Not the kind of justice white collar criminals like to see. It just could have some impact on corporate governance and industry culture ... in the U.S. The financial predators who have a choice will certainly opt for Canadian justice.

Here in Canada we see the Air Canada 20 year investigation and trial resulting in the accused being declared innocent. This has raised an outcry from ordinary citizens. The TV media coverage causes one to suspect our justice system.

Our white collar criminals who simply rob people of their savings are seldom imprisoned, unless they are small fry, and then rarely for more than a year. They may be sentenced to longer terms and be required to spend some time in minimum security facilities like the Gravenhurst Country Club for white collar criminals, but they are soon released because they are considered non-violent and no longer a risk to society.

It is not unusual for the perpetrators to resume their old practices when they realize that the worst that can happen is they have a years holiday with all expense paid. They can catch up on their reading, improve their strategies for defrauding Canadians and at the same time polish up their tennis game.

Does anyone know how many seniors and widows have lost their savings when they trusted their advisors who put them into Bre-X?

Does anyone remember that our Toronto media failed to carry any coverage when two small investors took Nesbitt to court over Bre-X?

Does anyone remember that the two Ottawa evening papers provided coverage the first day of the trial and then fell strangely silent?

Does the media really think that Canadians were not interested in the "scam of the century" that effected almost every investor? When Diane Francis wrote her column six months before the trial it seemed that there would be interest across Canada.

Is the investment industry so strong and powerful that they are able to muzzle Canada's media?

Yet, we allow extremists freedom of speech that threatens many in our society.

Maybe Canada will summon some courage to cover the Bre-X situation with some detail now that Felderhof has returned to "clear his name", and we are once again embarrassed by U.S. Justice showing how white collar criminals should be treated.

In the U.S. even Martha Stewart was sentenced to six months and her offence was nothing like what we see in Canada on a regular basis, without any incarceration. Why do we accept that the perpetrators are let off by agreeing to pay insignificant fines with other peoples money?

Are we really still the wild west as some Europeans think?