It is nothing to be proud of for either country. Transparency International has issued its 2003 report listing 132 countries in order of demerit according to their perceived corruption records.

At a time when transparency is the buzz word in national and international politics, the chart shown below rates countries on a scale of 1 to 10.

To an e-zine linking Canada and Ireland, the rankings for both countries give little cause for satisfaction, with Canada listed as 11th on the corruption scale, and Ireland 18th, the latter on a par with the United States of America.

Canada scored 8.7 points out of 10 for honesty, and Ireland 7.5 out of 10.

Transparency International's Jeff Lovitt, speaking on the release of the 2003 report, said that one of the best safeguards to help root out corrupt practice, especially in the public sector, was strong freedom of information rights.

Regrettably in Canada the rising cost of accessing information under the Freedom of Information Act is restricting the very freedom it purports to provide.

As indicated in the October issue of the Canadian Vindicator, an attempt is being made in Ireland to give the State control over Irish newspaper content.

These are worrisome issues to citizens in both countries. A free Press and freedom of information are vital in a democracy. Any attempt by government to curtail these freedoms runs contrary to the precepts of democracy.

Readers are referred to Transparency International's web site where its International Corruption Perceptions Index 2003 and other significant data are displayed.

Country rank	Country	CPI 2003 score	Surveys used	Standard deviation	High-low range
1	Finland	9.7	8	0.3	9.2 - 10.0
2	Iceland	9.6	7	0.3	9.2 - 10.0
3	Denmark	9.5	9	0.4	8.8 - 9.9
	New Zealand	9.5	8	0.2	9.2 - 9.6
5	Singapore	9.4	12	0.1	9.2 - 9.5
6	Sweden	9.3	11	0.2	8.8 - 9.6
7	Netherlands	8.9	9	0.3	8.5 - 9.3
8	Australia	8.8	12	0.9	6.7 - 9.5
	Norway	8.8	8	0.5	8.0 - 9.3
	Switzerland	8.8	9	0.8	6.9 - 9.4
11	Canada	8.7	12	0.9	6.5 - 9.4
	Luxembourg	8.7	6	0.4	8.0 - 9.2
	United Kingdom	8.7	13	0.5	7.8 - 9.2
14	Austria	8.0	9	0.7	7.3 - 9.3
	Hong Kong	8.0	11	1.1	5.6 - 9.3
16	Germany	7.7	11	1.2	4.9 - 9.2
17	Belgium	7.6	9	0.9	6.6 - 9.2
18	Ireland	7.5	9	0.7	6.5 - 8.8
	USA	7.5	13	1.2	4.9 - 9.2
20	Chile	7.4	12	0.9	5.6 - 8.8
21	Israel	7.0	10	1.2	4.7 - 8.1
	Japan	7.0	13	1.1	5.5 - 8.8
23	France	6.9	12	1.1	4.8 - 9.0
	Spain	6.9	11	0.8	5.2 - 7.8
25	Portugal	6.6	9	1.2	4.9 - 8.1
26	Oman	6.3	4	0.9	5.5 - 7.3
27	Bahrain	6.1	3	1.1	5.5 - 7.4
	Cyprus	6.1	3	1.6	4.7 - 7.8
29	Slovenia	5.9	12	1.2	4.7 - 8.8
30	Botswana	5.7	6	0.9	4.7 - 7.3
	Taiwan	5.7	13	1.0	3.6 - 7.8
32	Qatar	5.6	3	0.1	5.5 - 5.7
33	Estonia	5.5	12	0.6	4.7 - 6.6
	Uruguay	5.5	7	1.1	4.1 - 7.4
35	Italy	5.3	11	1.1	3.3 - 7.3
	Kuwait	5.3	4	1.7	3.3 - 7.4
37	Malaysia	5.2	13	1.1	3.6 - 8.0
	United Arab Emirates	5.2	3	0.5	4.6 - 5.6
39	Tunisia	4.9	6	0.7	3.6 - 5.6
40	Hungary	4.8	13	0.6	4.0 - 5.6
41	Lithuania	4.7	10	1.6	3.0 - 7.7
	Namibia	4.7	6	1.3	3.6 - 6.6
43	Cuba	4.6	3	1.0	3.6 - 5.5
	Jordan	4.6	7	1.1	3.6 - 6.5
	Trinidad and Tobago	4.6	6	1.3	3.4 - 6.9
46	Belize	4.5	3	0.9	3.6 - 5.5
	Saudi Arabia	4.5	4	2.0	2.8 - 7.4
48	Mauritius	4.4	5	0.7	3.6 - 5.5
	South Africa	4.4	12	0.6	3.6 - 5.5
50	Costa Rica	4.3	8	0.7	3.5 - 5.5
	Greece	4.3	9	0.8	3.7 - 5.6
	South Korea	4.3	12	1.0	2.0 - 5.6
53	Belarus	4.2	5	1.8	2.0 - 5.8
54	Brazil	3.9	12	0.5	3.3 - 4.7
	Bulgaria	3.9	10	0.9	2.8 - 5.7
	Czech Republic	3.9	12	0.9	2.6 - 5.6
57	Jamaica	3.8	5	0.4	3.3 - 4.3
	Latvia	3.8	7	0.4	3.4 - 4.7
59	Colombia	3.7	11	0.5	2.7 - 4.4
	Croatia	3.7	8	0.6	2.6 - 4.7
	El Salvador	3.7	7	1.5	2.0 - 6.3
	Peru	3.7	9	0.6	2.7 - 4.9
	Slovakia	3.7	11	0.7	2.9 - 4.7
64	Mexico	3.6	12	0.6	2.4 - 4.9
	Poland	3.6	14	1.1	2.4 - 5.6
66	China	3.4	13	1.0	2.0 - 5.5
	Panama	3.4	7	0.8	2.7 - 5.0
	Sri Lanka	3.4	7	0.7	2.4 - 4.4
	Syria	3.4	4	1.3	2.0 - 5.0
70	Bosnia & Herzegovina	3.3	6	0.7	2.2 - 3.9
	Dominican Republic	3.3	6	0.4	2.7 - 3.8
	Egypt	3.3	9	1.3	1.8 - 5.3
	Ghana	3.3	6	0.9	2.7 - 5.0
	Morocco	3.3	5	1.3	2.4 - 5.5
	Thailand	3.3	13	0.9	1.4 - 4.4
76	Senegal	3.2	6	1.2	2.2 - 5.5
77	Turkey	3.1	14	0.9	1.8 - 5.4
78	Armenia	3.0	5	0.8	2.2 - 4.1
	Iran	3.0	4	1.0	1.5 - 3.6
	Lebanon	3.0	4	0.8	2.1 - 3.6
	Mali	3.0	3	1.8	1.4 - 5.0
	Palestine	3.0	3	1.2	2.0 - 4.3
83	India	2.8	14	0.4	2.1 - 3.6
	Malawi	2.8	4	1.2	2.0 - 4.4
	Romania	2.8	12	1.0	1.6 - 5.0
86	Mozambique	2.7	5	0.7	2.0 - 3.6
	Russia	2.7	16	0.8	1.4 - 4.9
88	Algeria	2.6	4	0.5	2.0 - 3.0
	Madagascar	2.6	3	1.8	1.2 - 4.7
	Nicaragua	2.6	7	0.5	2.0 - 3.3
	Yemen	2.6	4	0.7	2.0 - 3.4
92	Albania	2.5	5	0.6	1.9 - 3.2
	Argentina	2.5	12	0.5	1.6 - 3.2
	Ethiopia	2.5	5	0.8	1.5 - 3.6
	Gambia	2.5	4	0.9	1.5 - 3.6
	Pakistan	2.5	7	0.9	1.5 - 3.9
	Philippines	2.5	12	0.5	1.6 - 3.6
	Tanzania	2.5	6	0.6	2.0 - 3.3
	Zambia	2.5	5	0.6	2.0 - 3.3
100	Guatemala	2.4	8	0.6	1.5 - 3.4
	Kazakhstan	2.4	7	0.9	1.6 - 3.8
	Moldova	2.4	5	0.8	1.6 - 3.6
	Uzbekistan	2.4	6	0.5	2.0 - 3.3
	Venezuela	2.4	12	0.5	1.4 - 3.1
	Vietnam	2.4	8	0.8	1.4 - 3.6
106	Bolivia	2.3	6	0.4	1.9 - 2.9
	Honduras	2.3	7	0.6	1.4 - 3.3
	Macedonia	2.3	5	0.3	2.0 - 2.7
	Serbia & Montenegro	2.3	5	0.5	2.0 - 3.2
	Sudan	2.3	4	0.3	2.0 - 2.7
	Ukraine	2.3	10	0.6	1.6 - 3.8
	Zimbabwe	2.3	7	0.3	2.0 - 2.7
113	Congo,Republic of the	2.2	3	0.5	2.0 - 2.8
	Ecuador	2.2	8	0.3	1.8 - 2.6
	Iraq	2.2	3	1.1	1.2 - 3.4
	Sierra Leone	2.2	3	0.5	2.0 - 2.8
	Uganda	2.2	6	0.7	1.8 - 3.5
118	Cote d'Ivoire	2.1	5	0.5	1.5 - 2.7
	Kyrgyzstan	2.1	5	0.4	1.6 - 2.7
	Libya	2.1	3	0.5	1.7 - 2.7
	Papua New Guinea	2.1	3	0.6	1.5 - 2.7
122	Indonesia	1.9	13	0.5	0.7 - 2.9
	Kenya	1.9	7	0.3	1.5 - 2.4
124	Angola	1.8	3	0.3	1.4 - 2.0
	Azerbaijan	1.8	7	0.3	1.4 - 2.3
	Cameroon	1.8	5	0.2	1.4 - 2.0
	Georgia	1.8	6	0.7	0.9 - 2.8
	Tajikistan	1.8	3	0.3	1.5 - 2.0
129	Myanmar	1.6	3	0.3	1.4 - 2.0
	Paraguay	1.6	6	0.3	1.2 - 2.0
131	Haiti	1.5	5	0.6	0.7 - 2.3
132	Nigeria	1.4	9	0.4	0.9 - 2.0
133	Bangladesh	1.3	8	0.7	0.3 - 2.2
Explanatory notes A more detailed description of the CPI 2003 methodology is available at http://www.transparency.org/cpi/index.html#cpi or at http://www.gwdg.de/~uwv A CPI 2003 Score relates to perceptions of the degree of corruption as seen by business people, academics and risk analysts, and ranges between 10 (highly clean) and 0 (highly corrupt). A Surveys Used refers to the number of surveys that assessed a country's performance. A total of 17 surveys were used from 13 independent institutions, and at least three surveys were required for a country to be included in the CPI. Standard Deviation indicates differences in the values of the sources: the greater the standard deviation, the greater the differences of perceptions of a country among the sources. High-Low Range provides the highest and lowest values of the different sources.

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