VANCOUVER(Reuters) — "Canadians are passive," says long-time shareholder activist Bob Verdun, echoing an oft-heard lament about fainthearted investors in a country where people are known for being polite, not confrontational.His comment comes as the criminal fraud trial of former Canadian media tycoon Conrad Black is wrapping up in Chicago and some people wonder why, when the holding company of Black's now defunct publishing empire was based in Canada, he is not being tried here?

But is it fair to accuse Canadian investors of being soft on corporate misdeeds and letting companies trample on good governance?

Billionaire investor Stephen Jarislowsky says Canadian shareholders are not as passive as they once were and he lays some of the blame for the misperception at the feet of the country's regulators.

"I blew the whistle but nobody listened here," said the outspoken octogenarian chairman of Montreal-based fund manager Jarislowsky Fraser, referring to financial excesses he saw while serving as a director in Black's newspaper empire.

"Part of it is due to the fact that we have these 13 so-called watchdogs called security commissions. The people who are manning these commissions are for the most part civil servants who really have very little knowledge in this area," Jarislowsky told Reuters.

He also accused police of not knowing how to tackle white-collar crime.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said this week Ottawa is aiming to devise a draft plan for a single, national securities regulator within six months, news that was welcomed by many market participants.

For Bill Mackenzie, director of special projects at the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance, the difference between investors in Canada and their perceived brasher counterparts south of the border, is a matter of style.

"We don't have the same sort of willingness to confront as institutional investors in the US do. It is usually a lot more done behind closed doors," Mackenzie said.