Angry in the Great White North

Here is the data on Canada each year from 2000 to 2004:

2000:
Overall Ranking: 5
Score: 9.2
Surveys Used: 9
High-Low Range: 8.1-9.9

2001:
Overall Ranking: 7
Score: 8.9
Surveys Used: 8
High-Low Range: 8.2-9.7

2002:
Overall Ranking: 7
Score: 9.0
Surveys Used: 10
High-Low Range: 8.7-9.3

2003:
Overall Ranking: 11
Score: 8.7
Surveys Used: 12
High-Low Range: 6.5-9.4

2004:
Overall Ranking: 12
Score: 8.5
Surveys Used: 12
High-Low Range: 6.5-9.4

I'm laying the blame for this at the feet of the Liberal Party of Canada. My reasoning is simple. First, when it comes to corruption, the Liberals have been the most visible example of an organization struggling with systemic corruption, and it sets the tone for the rest of the country. Second, when good news comes out, such as Canada ranking so high on the United Nations quality-of-life index (the UN being the shining beacon of incorruptable governance that it is), the Liberals have been quick to take credit. It seems only fair that they be compelled to take credit for this as well.

Note that the source data like the Economost Intelligence Unit is available to subscribers only, so I have to take the word of Transparency International on the numbers extracted from the root surveys.

For the curious, here are the top 12 in 2000 (the rank number is sometimes repeated because the countries have the same score):
1: Finland
2: Denmark
3: New Zealand
3: Sweden
5: Canada
6: Iceland
6: Norway
6: Singapore
9: Netherlands
10: United Kingdom
11: Luxembourg
11: Switzerland

And in 2004:
1: Finland
2: New Zealand
3: Denmark
3: Iceland
5: Singapore
6: Sweden
7: Switzerland
8: Norway
9: Australia
10: Netherlands
11: United Kingdom
12: Canada

You can see there isn't all that much motion on the list, other than Canada dropping down dramatically.

We think Adscam cost taxpayers somewhere in the vicinity of $350 million. Looking at this list, I can't help but wonder if it is costing us a great deal more.