Friday, March 24, 2023
No Result
View All Result
  • Media
Support Us
Macdonald-Laurier Institute
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
    • Jobs
    • Women’s History Month Fundraiser
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy Program
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • Economic policy
      • Health Care
      • Innovation
      • Justice
      • Social issues
      • Telecoms
    • Energy Policy Program
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy Program
      • Foreign Affairs
      • National Defence
      • National Security
    • Indigenous Affairs Program
  • Projects
    • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
    • COVID Misery Index
      • Beyond Lockdown
    • Provincial COVID Misery Index
    • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
      • Dragon at the Door
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
    • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
    • Competition Policy in Canada
    • Speak for Ourselves
    • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • The Transatlantic Program
    • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
      • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
    • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
    • Past Projects
      • Justice Report Card
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Libraries
    • Annual Reports
    • Inside Policy Magazine
      • Inside Policy Back Issues
      • Inside Policy Blog
    • Papers
    • Columns
    • Books
    • Commentary
    • Straight Talk
    • Video
    • Multimedia
    • Podcasts
    • Leading Economic Indicator
    • Labour Market Report
    • MLI in the Media
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
    • Jobs
    • Women’s History Month Fundraiser
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy Program
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • Economic policy
      • Health Care
      • Innovation
      • Justice
      • Social issues
      • Telecoms
    • Energy Policy Program
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy Program
      • Foreign Affairs
      • National Defence
      • National Security
    • Indigenous Affairs Program
  • Projects
    • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
    • COVID Misery Index
      • Beyond Lockdown
    • Provincial COVID Misery Index
    • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
      • Dragon at the Door
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
    • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
    • Competition Policy in Canada
    • Speak for Ourselves
    • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • The Transatlantic Program
    • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
      • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
    • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
    • Past Projects
      • Justice Report Card
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Libraries
    • Annual Reports
    • Inside Policy Magazine
      • Inside Policy Back Issues
      • Inside Policy Blog
    • Papers
    • Columns
    • Books
    • Commentary
    • Straight Talk
    • Video
    • Multimedia
    • Podcasts
    • Leading Economic Indicator
    • Labour Market Report
    • MLI in the Media
No Result
View All Result
Macdonald-Laurier Institute

Canada diminished by failing to enforce Magnitsky law: Marcus Kolga in iPolitics

June 25, 2018
in Columns, Europe and Russia, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy Program, In the Media, Latest News
Reading Time: 4 mins read
A A

Marcus KolgaCanada’s implementation of Magnitsky legislation has been slow, and a new report reveals that Canada’s monitoring and enforcement of sanctions is lagging, writes Marcus Kolga

By Marcus Kolga, June 25, 2018

This week, the US accelerated its slow-moving retreat from global leadership on issues of human rights and democracy, moving ever closer to the members of what David Frum coined the Axis of Evil. As Donald Trump steers his country towards a policy of appeasement towards the world’s most repressive regimes, many western allies are now looking to Canada for global leadership.

The principled international positions adopted by the Harper government, have been thankfully retained and expanded by PM Trudeau his Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland to include even greater accountability for the corrupt violators of international human rights through a global sanctioning tool known as the Magnitsky law. The law, which was unanimously adopted by Canada last fall, has prompted several European allies and Australia to consider adopting similar measures to protect global human rights and pro-democracy activists.

Magnitsky sanctions act both as a punitive measure to hold corrupt and abusive foreign officials accountable for their actions, as well as deterring others from breaking international laws in the future. So effective are these sanctions that Vladimir Putin has made their removal one of his top foreign policy priorities, which the U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation has proven.

The effectiveness of these “smart” sanctions lies in the way that they are targeted. Officials of kleptocratic regimes that abuse human rights and engage in corruption, tend to secure the benefits of their activities by hiding their assets abroad. They use their ill-gotten wealth to finance condos and villas in western nations where they spend much of their time.

Canadian sanctions have been placed on individuals and entities, from Iran, Russia, Burma, Zimbabwe, Syria, Venezuela and elsewhere. Once on the list, the target’s assets are frozen and their entry to Canada banned. Any future financial interactions with them, by any Canadian entity, is prohibited.

Magnitsky sanctions act both as a punitive measure to hold corrupt and abusive foreign officials accountable for their actions, as well as deterring others from breaking international laws in the future.

Evidence that Russian oligarchs, connected to Putin’s kleptocracy, have used Canada as a safe haven for their assets is indisputable. A now disgraced former Russian Senator, who was assigned by Vladimir Putin to lead the Kremlin effort to derail western sanctions, Vitaly Malkin, had millions of dollars hidden in Toronto real estate. Oleg Deripaska, one of Putin’s closest oligarchs, who is sanctioned by the United States, was the majority owner of Magna International. Kremlin linked steel industry oligarch, Roman Abramovich, reportedly had his UK visa denied in May and was named on the US “Putin List.” Yet Abramovich continues to control a major Canadian steel company, Evraz. It’s suspected that officials from other corrupt regimes, in Iran and China, are also using Canada to conceal their assets.

Only a handful of Canadian companies continue to tolerate the risks of conducting business in Putin’s Russia, and those who do often suffer the consequences of doing so. Bombardier and their joint venture with Russian Railways, became the target of a Swedish corruption investigation in connection to a contract in Azerbaijan. In a typically strange Russian twist, Bombardier’s offices were raided by Kremlin officials in April, further illustrating the volatile risks of doing business in Putin’s Russia.

Canada’s implementation of Magnitsky legislation has been slow, and a new report by a Russian researcher, Mikhail Maglov, has revealed that Canada’s monitoring and enforcement of sanctions is lagging. The report, based on publicly available Russian government data shows a major international Canadian real estate firm has engaged in commercial activity with two Russian banks, despite their having been on Canada’s sanctions list since 2014.

Further indications that the monitoring and enforcement of Canadian sanctions are lagging appeared last week, when the US Department of Justice charged several Russian and Syrian individuals with breaking US sanctions. The indictment claims that a Canadian company was used to process payments amounting to millions of dollars for a shipment of jet fuel to Syria — a transaction that may also contravene Canadian sanctions laws.

While the Trudeau government set aside $22.2 million for the administration, monitoring and enforcement of sanctions in the 2018 budget, there is no indication that these new resources have been implemented or applied. The potential effectiveness of Canada’s sanctions relies on the creation of a dedicated office for their ongoing administration and execution. Without consequences, Canadian companies and those under sanctions, could continue violating our laws, ultimately betraying the activists and human rights they were designed to protect.

Few sanctions violations have ever been enforced in Canada. In 2014, an Alberta company was fined $90,000 for delivering rubber seals, worth $15 each, to a sanctioned Iranian entity.

Maglov’s report raises serious questions about Canada’s sanctions monitoring capabilities, and more importantly, the enforcement of them. Without ongoing monitoring and enforcement, the deterrent effect of Canada’s global sanctions regime is diminished.

Canada’s leadership on global Magnitsky human rights sanctions legislation has been recognized by our international allies. Yet real attention now must be paid to its implementation, monitoring and enforcement.

Marcus Kolga is a documentary filmmaker, writer and human rights activist. As a Senior Fellow at the Macdonald-Laurier Institute’s Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad, he is a specialist in disinformation, sanctions and Russian foreign policy.

Tags: Magnitsky lawMarcus KolgaRussiasanctions
Previous Post

Why the American Economy is Hot, and Canada’s is Not: Cross Quarterly Economic Report

Next Post

Why Canada stands guard in Latvia: New MLI report

Related Posts

Putin and Xi driven to make authoritarianism the standard worldwide: Balkan Devlen in the National Post
Columns

Putin and Xi driven to make authoritarianism the standard worldwide: Balkan Devlen in the National Post

March 24, 2023
Outside intervention does a disservice to Indigenous communities that need to take control of their economic destinies: Chris Sankey in the National Post
Columns

Changing a lyric in O Canada is not a path to reconciliation: Chris Sankey in the Hub

March 23, 2023
Holding China to Account for the COVID-19 Coverup: Charles Burton and Brett Byers for Inside Policy
Columns

Beijing is the one stoking racism against Chinese-Canadians: Christian Leuprecht in the National Post

March 23, 2023
Next Post
Why Canada stands guard in Latvia: New MLI report

Why Canada stands guard in Latvia: New MLI report

Macdonald-Laurier Institute

323 Chapel Street, Suite #300
Ottawa, Ontario
K1N 7Z2 Canada

613.482.8327

info@macdonaldlaurier.ca
MLI directory

Follow us on

Newsletter Signup

Support Us

Support the Macdonald-Laurier Institute to help ensure that Canada is one of the best governed countries in the world. Click below to learn more or become a sponsor.

Support Us

Inside Policy Magazine

  • Current Issue
  • Back Issues
  • Advertising
  • Inside Policy Blog
  • Privacy Policy

© 2021 Macdonald-Laurier Institute. All Rights reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
    • Who We Are
    • Who Makes MLI Work
    • Tenth Anniversary
    • Jobs
    • Women’s History Month Fundraiser
  • Experts
    • Experts Directory
    • In Memoriam
  • Issues
    • Domestic Policy Program
      • Agriculture and Agri-Food
      • Canada’s Political Tradition
      • Economic policy
      • Health Care
      • Innovation
      • Justice
      • Social issues
      • Telecoms
    • Energy Policy Program
      • Energy
      • Environment
    • Foreign Policy Program
      • Foreign Affairs
      • National Defence
      • National Security
    • Indigenous Affairs Program
  • Projects
    • COVID and after: A mandate for recovery
    • COVID Misery Index
      • Beyond Lockdown
    • Provincial COVID Misery Index
    • Centre for Advancing Canada’s Interests Abroad
      • Dragon at the Door
      • The Eavesdropping Dragon: Huawei
    • An Intellectual Property Strategy for Canada
    • Competition Policy in Canada
    • Speak for Ourselves
    • Canada and the Indo-Pacific Initiative
    • DisInfoWatch.org
    • The Transatlantic Program
    • Indigenous Prosperity at a Crossroads
      • Aboriginal Canada and Natural Resources
    • Talkin’ in the Free World with Mariam Memarsadeghi
    • Past Projects
      • Justice Report Card
      • Munk Senior Fellows
      • A Mandate for Canada
      • Confederation Series
      • Fiscal Reform
      • The Canadian Century project
      • Fixing Canadian health care
      • Internal trade
      • From a mandate for change
      • Size of government in Canada
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
      • MLI Dinners
      • Great Canadian Debates
  • Latest News
  • Libraries
    • Annual Reports
    • Inside Policy Magazine
      • Inside Policy Back Issues
      • Inside Policy Blog
    • Papers
    • Columns
    • Books
    • Commentary
    • Straight Talk
    • Video
    • Multimedia
    • Podcasts
    • Leading Economic Indicator
    • Labour Market Report
    • MLI in the Media

© 2021 Macdonald-Laurier Institute. All Rights reserved.