Canada pushing G7 on new laws to seize and repurpose frozen Russian assets: Joly
The federal government is working with G7 allies to craft new legislation that would allow for not just the freezing of sanctioned Russian assets, but seizing them on behalf of Ukrainian war victims.
The recent federal budget declared Canada's intention to pursue the seizure-of-assets route, which has been the subject of a bill by an Independent senator that is on the verge of being passed in the Senate.
The government's budget implementation bill also lays out its intent to enact a law that would broaden Canada's current sanctions regime to allow for the seizure and repurposing of assets.
Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said Wednesday the bill seeks to create the "ability for the government to be able to sell the assets that were seized, and afterwards to use the profits and to compensate the victims of this war against Ukraine."
She said because many Russians have assets in Europe and the United States, Canada wants to persuade other allies in the G7 to consider similar legislation.
Joly said the assets of Russian oligarchs in Canada are "substantial."
"We know that Russian oligarchs tend to be in other jurisdictions than Canada, and particularly in Europe, because of the close proximity and because of their family links," she said.
More money can be found in Europe "or sometimes in the United States," she added.
"We're looking at ways to further punish and seize things from people who have been sanctioned," said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Wednesday. "But that is work that is ongoing along with our partners."
Sen. Ratna Omidvar has a bill with that goal that is currently at third reading in the Senate. It would allow for the seizure of assets of rich Russian oligarchs loyal to President Vladimir Putin so that the money could be used to rebuild war-ravaged Ukraine.
Omidvar said Wednesday that she is pleased the Liberal government has included the "essence" of her proposed law, known as Bill S-17, in its budget implementation bill.
"Parliamentarians need to act swiftly by passing these measures and applying it to the dire situation in Ukraine," Omidvar said in a statement.
On Wednesday, the House of Commons unanimously adopted a motion recognizing "that the Russian Federation is committing acts of genocide against the Ukrainian people."
The statement put forward by NDP MP Heather McPherson cites evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity carried out by Russian forces, including the forcible transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia, systematic killing of civilians and desecration of corpses as well as torture and rape.
The United Nations definition of genocide includes a mental element, which is difficult to prove, that the acts must be committed with "intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group."
Earlier Wednesday, Canada imposed sanctions on more than 200 people who are loyal to Putin in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region.
Global Affairs Canada said the new measures target 11 senior officials and 192 other members of the People's Councils of the self-proclaimed People's Republics of Luhansk and Donetsk for supporting Putin's attack on the area.
Russian forces have been backing separatist rebels in the Donbas area for eight years following Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.
That Russian-backed separatist insurgency claimed 14,000 lives before the Feb. 24 start of Putin's full-scale war to take over the country, an attack that has faltered in the face of a determined Ukrainian resistance backed with western weaponry.
Putin has now refocused his war on Ukraine's mainly Russian-speaking eastern region, pulling back from an unsuccessful attempt to take the capital Kyiv and drive out the government of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The Canadian sanctions are focused on the renewed Russian attempt to annex areas of the Donbas by targeting people attempting to support the next phase of the two-month-old Russian war on Ukraine.
"We moved forward as strongly as anyone else did on sanctions from the very beginning, and the key on the sanctions is that we are totally united across the West and determined to continue to put pressure on anyone who supported Vladimir Putin," Trudeau said.
"We are all looking at ways of moving forward and every conversation we have is about how we can do more as western countries to demonstrate that Vladimir Putin made a terrible mistake. He needs to lose and anyone who supports him needs to face severe consequences."
Canada has sanctioned more than 1,000 people or entities from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus since the Feb. 24 invasion, bringing to 1,400 the total that have been sanctioned since the 2014 annexation of Crimea.
Joly spoke Tuesday with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken as the pair reaffirmed their ongoing support of Ukraine. And Defence Minister Anita Anand is in Washington for a rare meeting Thursday with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Anand and Austin will continue the discussions they had earlier this week during NATO defence consultations in Germany, said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.
"As you'd imagine, there'll be a lot of things to discuss," Kirby said. "Obviously, what's going on in Ukraine, but also our shared Norad responsibilities, the Arctic, the Indo-Pacific -- there's a lot on the agenda."
Last week, Canada added 14 more Russians to its sanctions list, including Putin's two adult daughters, Maria Vorontsova, 36, and Katerina Tikhonova, 35.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 27, 2022.
Get in touch
Do you have any questions about the attack on Ukraine? Email dotcom@bellmedia.ca.
- Please include your name, location, and contact information if you are willing to speak to a journalist with CTV News.
- Your comments may be used in a CTVNews.ca story.
IN DEPTH
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6922467.1718138898!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6850735.1713368648!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6603397.1720795132!/httpImage/image.jpeg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpeg)
2 bodies believed to be from B.C. wash ashore Sable Island, N.S.
Nova Scotia RCMP say a boat containing the bodies of two people believed to be from British Columbia washed ashore the Sable Island National Park Reserve earlier this week.
Poilievre says Trudeau a 'human pinata' at NATO, still won't commit to spending goal
Pierre Poilievre says NATO allies treated Prime Minister Justin Trudeau like a human pinata at the leaders' summit this week — but he still won't commit to the alliance's spending goal.
'It's scary': 3 Ontario men lose $373,000 to crypto investment fraud
Three men across Ontario are speaking out after losing hundreds of thousands of dollars to a cryptocurrency investment scam, including one man in Brampton who lost $226,000.
Pressure building on Joe Biden to resign after Putin, Trump gaffes
Joe Biden remains defiant that he'll remain in the U.S. presidential race despite a disastrous debate performance that triggered a wave of calls for him to end his candidacy.
A trucker found a 1-year-old boy alive on a Louisiana roadside after the child was abandoned amid storm Beryl, police say
A truck driver found a 1-year-old alive in a ditch off an interstate highway in Louisiana this week, a day after the boy’s 4-year-old brother was found dead near the same freeway in what investigators think was a case of abandonment around the time tropical storm conditions hit the area, authorities said.
Wolfville youth found dead after flash flood: N.S. RCMP
A youth who disappeared during a flash flood in Wolfville, N.S., Thursday night has died.
One person in hospital after falling from swing ride at Canada's Wonderland
One person has been hospitalized after falling from a swing ride at Canada's Wonderland.
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez publicly list their house for sale
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez have added a tiny bit of fuel to the fire surrounding their marriage. Amid speculation that the pair are struggling in their relationship after marrying about two years ago, the couple has listed their 12-bedroom, 24-bathroom California home for sale.
Black bear 'wreaked havoc' on car after being locked inside, RCMP say
A black bear accidentally got locked in a car in Coquitlam Thursday, destroying the interior before being freed by police.
Local Spotlight
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6961578.1720800053!/httpImage/image.jpeg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpeg)
Rare marine fossil found in eastern Saskatchewan
A rare ammonite fossil – about 75 million years old - has been discovered in eastern Saskatchewan.
Ontario dad highlights Calgary Flames' act of kindness
Seven-year-old goalie Hudson Hardill is an unlikely Calgary Flames fan, being that he lives in Peterborough, Ont., and his dad Chris is a Toronto Maple Leafs fan.
'I nearly died': WestJet employee and Spice Girls superfan dances with Mel C
A WestJet employee's chance encounter on a recent flight spiced up her life in a big way.
He thought his gnomes were stolen. But then a secret society returned them
A Kelowna, B.C., man says he's always liked gnomes because they have a 'bit of mystery' to them. And he recently got a taste of that whimsy when his garden gnomes disappeared, and came back to him in a peculiar fashion.
Toronto's iconic 'Leslieville dollhouse' set to hit the market on Thursday
After more than 50 years, Toronto's iconic 'Leslieville dollhouse' will soon have a new owner.
Little free Blockbuster set up in Winnipeg
One man is bringing a blast from the past to a Winnipeg community.
'Her whole future ahead of her': Sask. photographer captures Manitoba graduate posing on iceberg
Some say a photograph is simply a memory frozen in time – and a high school graduation photo taken in Churchill, Man. takes that adage to a completely new level.
'Tears come to my eyes': Track star and family granted extension to stay in Canada after deportation order
A rising track and field star overcame a big hurdle in his dream to represent Canada at the Olympics.
B.C. buyers who backed out of home purchase ordered to pay more than $350K in damages
Would-be homebuyers who backed out of a deal to purchase a B.C. property in a hot real estate market have been ordered to pay the seller the difference between what they offered and what he was able to sell the home for when the market cooled.