CANADA NEEDS ITS OWN MAGNITSKY SANCTIONS: MP BEZAN
Ottawa, ON – Today, the British House of Commons unanimously passed the UK Magnitsky sanctions legislation. Following the historic vote, Member of Parliament James Bezan issued the following statement:
“Today the United Kingdom became the third country to adopt Magnistky sanctions. The U.K., the U.S., and Estonia each passed their respective bills unanimously. In 2015, the Canadian Parliament unanimously passed its own motion calling for Magnitsky sanctions to be applied to corrupt foreign officials.
“In May, I tabled Bill C-267 “Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act (Sergei Magnitsky Law)”, to formally incorporate these sanctions into Canadian law. This Bill will make amendments to the Special Economic Measures Act, imposing stricter sanctions on all foreign violators of human rights. This legislation will further enable the Government of Canada to quickly sanction individuals that are responsible for events like the ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine.
“Individuals that are responsible for gross violations of human rights and corruption should not be able to use Canada as a safe haven. They must face consequences for their actions and sanctioning these individuals is the right thing to do.
“These measures were supported by the three main parties during the 2015 Federal Election. However, despite support from within his own caucus, former Foreign Affairs Minister Dion failed to follow through on this promise. In opposition, Canada’s new Foreign Minister, Chrystia Freeland, called on the government on numerous occasions to increase sanctions on Russian individuals.
“I encourage Minister Freeland to turn her words into action, support my Bill, and pass the Sergei Magnitsky Law.”
