Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi stashed more than $2-billion in Canadian banks after a visit from former prime minister Paul Martin in 2004, CTV News has learned.
On the weekend, the Canadian government announced it was freezing the dictator's assets in Canada. But the federal government did not say how much money was connected to Gadhafi.
Martin was one of several Western leaders who met with Gadhafi in 2004. He visited in December of that year, after Gadhafi said that he was renouncing terrorism and was abandoning his quest for weapons of mass destruction.
Last week the former Liberal prime minister called Gadhafi's recent actions "despicable" and called for the UN to intervene in Libya.
Earlier Monday, it was announced that the Canadian military has sent a reconnaissance team and medics to Malta, as Western countries weigh their options for a possible intervention in Libya, including a ‘no-fly zone' to protect civilians.
The 13-member team landed on Monday along with two new C-130J cargo planes and two C-17 transports. The planes will be used to help get foreign nationals out of the increasingly chaotic North African country.
"A team of Canadian Forces is now on the ground in Malta. We continue to provide assistance to those who need it and we encourage Canadians who need further assistance to contact the Department of Foreign Affairs," Defence Minister Peter MacKay confirmed during question period Monday.
CTV News has been told that Canadian special forces are also on the ground in Libya.
The United Kingdom have used commandos to escort their transports into Libya and protected them while on the ground.
One British plane was fired on during an evacuation and took minor damage.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and U.S. President Barack Obama spoke Monday, agreeing to work together to promote democracy in Libya and other parts of North Africa and the Middle East.
The leaders spoke about the important of co-ordinated international humanitarian aid for people escaping from the violence in Libya.
Earlier, the federal government issued tough sanctions against Libya and renewed calls for Gadhafi to resign, with Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon saying it was "the only acceptable course of action."
Cannon joined the chorus of world leaders urging Gadhafi to heed the call of protesters and step down.
"A tide of change is sweeping the Middle East and North Africa. Leaders who try to defy or repress the tide, like Gadhafi or the leadership in Iran, will eventually be overwhelmed," Cannon told the United Nations in Geneva, Monday afternoon.
Earlier in the day, Government House Leader John Baird released more details about sanctions Canada is imposing on Libya and the Gadhafi regime.
He said Ottawa is freezing any Canadian assets belonging to Gadhafi and his regime and placing a ban on financial dealings with Libya, saying the actions will help end "the appalling violence."
Baird said the Harper government hopes the sanctions will help force Gadhafi from power quickly.
Baird refused to go into details about how much money in Canada was linked to the Gadhafi regime, or how long it had been here, citing "operational" concerns.
But he said "there were specific instances brought to our attention."
Speaking to CTV's Power Play, Baird said the assets of Gadhafi, the Libyan government, the Libyan central back and those of 15 "close associates" have been frozen by the Canadian government.
"We don't want that money to be stolen from the Libyan people, we don't want it to be used to spread the appalling violence we've seen in the capital," he said.
The Harper government is also banning any Canadian company operating in Libya from making any transactions with the Libyan government, its agencies or the central bank.
However, companies will not be banned from operating in Libya, Baird said.
"We are hoping the hard line taken by the international community and the even harder line taken by our government against the current Libyan regime will bring about change quickly and the negative impact of these sanctions will be limited and will be very short term," Baird said.
He added that the situation in Libya is "deteriorating rapidly" and since Canadian companies are now evacuating their workers, it's unlikely any organizations would be looking at expanding any time soon, anyway.
However, Baird said he hoped the sanctions would be "short-term" and regime change will occur "very quickly."
The UN Security Council voted unanimously over the weekend to impose an arms embargo and urged member states to freeze the assets of Gadhafi, four of his sons and a daughter.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper then said Canada would add to those restrictions by banning financial transactions with the Libyan government and its agencies.
Canadians continued to flee Libya Monday by any and all means of transportation possible, amid the ongoing political turmoil. A total of 250 Canadians have now been evacuated from the country, Baird said.
Harper's communications director Dimitri Soudas sent out a message on Twitter Monday morning that 33 Canadians were aboard British ship HMS Cumberland that was approaching Malta, in the Mediterranean Sea.
The ship, which was "due to arrive in Malta shortly," was carrying a number of expatriates from other countries as well.
Soudas also wrote on his Twitter feed that a Canadian Forces C17 cargo plane had carried a load of evacuees, including one Canadian, to Malta.
CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife reported that the C17 flew into Libya's isolated southwest region Monday morning.
"The C17 military cargo plane has just landed in Malta carrying Filipino, Vietnamese, Thais, one German and one Canadian," Fife said, adding that Canada has two C130 Hercules aircraft and two C-17s based in Malta.
