Canada Is Seen As The Most Trustworthy Country In The World
According to a brand new ranking, Canada has officially become the world’s most transparent country. Believed to have one of the most trustworthy governments on the planet, Canada joined Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Switzerland in the top ten. While this news is sure to have Justin Trudeau smiling, not everybody agrees with the country's latest ranking.
In a new perception-based survey from US News & World, Canada was found to be the most transparent country on the planet.
The ranking is compiled by considering which places have open government practices, high levels of trustworthiness and low levels of perceived political corruption.
Giving Canada an overall score of 98.6/100, the report praises our progressiveness, reliability and “well-distributed political power.”
Additionally, the country scores 100/100 for religious freedom and for “respecting property rights.”
While the True North took the number one spot, it was Scandinavia that dominated the top five, with Finland, Germany and the Netherlands also making the top ten.
Comparatively, the US landed in 18th place, while Ghana, Colombia and Mexico were at the bottom of the list.
While this new ranking will be welcome news to Canada's politicians, not everyone is impressed with this particular gold medal.
Responding to a post about the new list on Twitter, one person wrote, “As a Canadian allow me to tell you this ranking is ABSOLUTELY ridiculous!”
Another added, “Canada is more transparent than Norway, Denmark, or Sweden? Is this a joke?!”
While not everybody agrees with Canada’s new position, it’s certainly a significant improvement for the country’s transparency rate.
Just three years ago, it only placed ninth on a similar transparency scale, falling behind Denmark, New Zealand and Singapore, among others.
According to Transparency International, the connection between transparent countries and affluent nations should not be overlooked.
Corruption and inequality "feed off each other to create a vicious circle between corruption, unequal distribution of power in society, and unequal distribution of wealth," the organization explains.
Also taking the top spot as the country with the best quality of life, it seems Canada is officially a great place to live!