Speech (House debate)

{
    "time": "2022-11-14 11:50:00",
    "attribution": {
        "en": "Mr. James Bezan (Selkirk\u2014Interlake\u2014Eastman, CPC)",
        "fr": "M. James Bezan (Selkirk\u2014Interlake\u2014Eastman, PCC)"
    },
    "content": {
        "en": "<p data-HoCid=\"7417993\" data-originallang=\"en\">Madam Speaker, I am proud to stand today to speak to Bill <a data-HoCid=\"11849768\" href=\"/bills/44-1/C-281/\" title=\"An Act to amend the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act, the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act (Sergei Magnitsky Law), the Broadcasting Act and the Prohibiting Cluster Munitions Act\">C-281</a>, the international human rights act. I want to thank the member for <a data-HoCid=\"278532\" href=\"/politicians/philip-lawrence/\" title=\"Philip Lawrence\">Northumberland\u2014Peterborough South</a> for bringing forward this important piece of legislation, which would amend legislation I introduced in the House back in 2018, Bill <a data-HoCid=\"8232682\" href=\"/bills/42-1/S-226/\" title=\"An Act to provide for the taking of restrictive measures in respect of foreign nationals responsible for gross violations of internationally recognized human rights and to make related amendments to the Special Economic Measures Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act\">S-226</a>. My partner in crime in the Senate at that time was Senator Raynell Andreychuk, who worked very hard on that bill. She and I had had numerous meetings with the government, to the point where we had unanimous consent on the bill. The legislation we are debating today reintroduces some of the changes to the earlier iterations of Bill S-226.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"7417994\" data-originallang=\"en\">We have to make sure everybody understands that we use Magnitsky sanctions to move in lockstep with our allies. When the <a data-HoCid=\"279306\" href=\"/politicians/rob-oliphant/\" title=\"Rob Oliphant\">parliamentary secretary</a> says we want to have a coordinated response with our allies, our allies, whether it is the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States or Australia, are all using Magnitsky sanctions. Unfortunately, the government has not used Magnitsky sanctions since 2018. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"7417995\" data-originallang=\"en\">All the sanctions that have been brought against some of the corrupt foreign officials and gross human rights violators we are seeing today in the war in Ukraine, and what Russia has been doing with its kleptocracy, have all been under the Special Economic Measures Act. We know that act does not have the same teeth or accountability built into it as the Magnitsky law itself. Having Parliament provide a mechanism to put names on a list to present to the government through the foreign affairs committees of either the Senate or the House would provide more accountability, as well as debate and discussion as to why certain names should be added to the list. </p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"7417996\" data-originallang=\"en\">I have worked with numerous communities for years to try to get more of these gross human rights violators and corrupt foreign officials on the list. We have submitted names to the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development and the Department of Justice, and none of those names have ended up on any sanctions list, either SEMA or the Magnitsky law. The Vietnamese community, the Cambodian community and Falun Gong practitioners have dozens of names of people proven to have committed gross human rights violations against citizens in those countries, yet the government sits idle.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"7417997\" data-originallang=\"en\">Amending the Magnitsky act, as has been brought forward by my colleague from <a data-HoCid=\"278532\" href=\"/politicians/philip-lawrence/\" title=\"Philip Lawrence\">Northumberland\u2014Peterborough South</a>, would address that shortfall. It would allow communities and parliamentarians to come forward with names. Then, the ultimate accountability of the government would be to report back within 40 days as to why it is either taking action or not taking action. It would also file annual reports. The bigger goals are naming and shaming those committing gross human rights violations around the world.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"7417998\" data-originallang=\"en\">We have to make sure we move forward with this legislation. I am glad we are getting to the point of probably having unanimous consent for sending this bill to committee, but I would say to my colleagues in the Liberal Party that, instead of trying to make a whole bunch of amendments to the bill at committee, they actually listen to the people who have suffered violations of their human rights because of corrupt foreign officials, the human rights violators who put their own ideology or wealth ahead of that of the citizens they are supposed to be serving.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"7417999\" data-originallang=\"en\">We have to make sure we go back to using Magnitsky sanctions, just as our allies do, to ensure there is one declaration that these individuals have violated the human rights of their citizens, are corrupt, they are being held to account and cannot use Canada as a safe haven. I know the government has been apprehensive about using Magnitsky sanctions because it is required to report on financial institutions on a quarterly basis whether any of the names on the sanctions lists we have under Magnitsky are making use of our financial institutions to hide their wealth, or hiding their families here and taking advantage of our great universities. Those practices have to be monitored, and the best way to do that is through the amendments suggested in Bill <a data-HoCid=\"11849768\" href=\"/bills/44-1/C-281/\" title=\"An Act to amend the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act, the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act (Sergei Magnitsky Law), the Broadcasting Act and the Prohibiting Cluster Munitions Act\">C-281</a>.</p>",
        "fr": "<p data-HoCid=\"7417993\" data-originallang=\"en\">Madame la Pr\u00e9sidente, je suis fier de prendre la parole aujourd'hui au sujet du projet de loi <a data-HoCid=\"11849768\" href=\"/bills/44-1/C-281/\" title=\"An Act to amend the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act, the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act (Sergei Magnitsky Law), the Broadcasting Act and the Prohibiting Cluster Munitions Act\">C-281</a>, Loi sur les droits de la personne \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9chelle internationale. Je tiens \u00e0 remercier le d\u00e9put\u00e9 de <a data-HoCid=\"278532\" href=\"/politicians/philip-lawrence/\" title=\"Philip Lawrence\">Northumberland\u2014Peterborough-Sud</a> d'avoir pr\u00e9sent\u00e9 ce texte l\u00e9gislatif important ayant pour effet de modifier des dispositions contenues dans le projet de loi <a data-HoCid=\"8232682\" href=\"/bills/42-1/S-226/\" title=\"An Act to provide for the taking of restrictive measures in respect of foreign nationals responsible for gross violations of internationally recognized human rights and to make related amendments to the Special Economic Measures Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act\">S-226</a>, que j'ai pr\u00e9sent\u00e9 \u00e0 la Chambre en 2018. \u00c0 l'\u00e9poque, ma complice au S\u00e9nat \u00e9tait la s\u00e9natrice Raynell Andreychuk, qui a travaill\u00e9 avec acharnement sur ce projet de loi. Elle et moi avons rencontr\u00e9 le gouvernement \u00e0 de nombreuses reprises, \u00e0 tel point que nous avons obtenu du Parlement qu'il consente unanimement \u00e0 l'adoption du projet de loi, \u00e0 l'\u00e9poque. Le projet de loi actuel, dont nous d\u00e9battons aujourd'hui, reprend certaines modifications l\u00e9gislatives qui \u00e9taient pr\u00e9vues dans les versions ant\u00e9rieures du projet de loi S-226.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"7417994\" data-originallang=\"en\">Il faut que tout le monde comprenne que les sanctions Magnitski nous permettent d'agir de concert avec nos alli\u00e9s. Lorsque le <a data-HoCid=\"279306\" href=\"/politicians/rob-oliphant/\" title=\"Rob Oliphant\">secr\u00e9taire parlementaire</a> dit vouloir coordonner notre action avec celle de nos alli\u00e9s, il faut savoir que ces derniers utilisent tous les sanctions Magnitski, que ce soit l'Union europ\u00e9enne, le Royaume-Uni, les \u00c9tats-Unis ou l'Australie. Malheureusement, le gouvernement n'a pas utilis\u00e9 les sanctions Magnitski depuis 2018.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"7417995\" data-originallang=\"en\">Toutes les sanctions qui ont \u00e9t\u00e9 impos\u00e9es \u00e0 certains dirigeants \u00e9trangers corrompus et individus ayant port\u00e9 gravement atteinte aux droits de la personne, dans le contexte de la guerre en Ukraine et de la kleptocratie russe, ont toutes \u00e9t\u00e9 inflig\u00e9es aux termes de la Loi sur les mesures \u00e9conomiques sp\u00e9ciales. Or, on sait que la Loi n\u2019a pas autant de mordant que la loi de Magnitski, notamment lorsqu'il s'agit de faire r\u00e9pondre quelqu'un de ses actes. Le fait pour le Parlement de fournir un m\u00e9canisme pour inscrire des noms sur une liste \u00e0 pr\u00e9senter au gouvernement par l\u2019entremise des comit\u00e9s des affaires \u00e9trang\u00e8res du S\u00e9nat ou de la Chambre accro\u00eetrait la justiciabilit\u00e9 et ouvrirait un d\u00e9bat sur les motifs qui justifieraient l'ajout de noms sur la liste.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"7417996\" data-originallang=\"en\">Au fil des ans, j\u2019ai travaill\u00e9 avec de nombreuses communaut\u00e9s pendant des ann\u00e9es pour essayer de faire inscrire sur la liste un plus grand nombre d'individus ayant port\u00e9 gravement atteinte aux droits de la personne et de dirigeants \u00e9trangers corrompus. Nous avons soumis des noms au minist\u00e8re des Affaires \u00e9trang\u00e8res, du Commerce et du D\u00e9veloppement ainsi qu'au minist\u00e8re de la Justice, mais aucun d'entre eux n'a abouti sur une liste de sanctions, que ce soit au titre de la Loi sur les mesures \u00e9conomiques sp\u00e9ciales ou de la loi de Magnitski. La communaut\u00e9 vietnamienne, la communaut\u00e9 cambodgienne et les adeptes du Falun Gong ont des dizaines de noms de personnes dont les graves atteintes aux droits de la personne \u00e0 l'endroit de citoyens du Vietnam, du Cambodge et de la Chine sont prouv\u00e9es; pourtant le gouvernement reste les bras crois\u00e9s.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"7417997\" data-originallang=\"en\">Modifier la loi de Magnitski comme le propose mon coll\u00e8gue de <a data-HoCid=\"278532\" href=\"/politicians/philip-lawrence/\" title=\"Philip Lawrence\">Northumberland\u2014Peterborough\u2011Sud</a> permettrait de rem\u00e9dier \u00e0 cette lacune. Les communaut\u00e9s et les parlementaires pourraient pr\u00e9senter des noms. Au final, ce serait au gouvernement de rendre des comptes en pr\u00e9sentant un rapport dans les 40 jours sur les raisons qui justifient qu'il prenne ou non des mesures. Il d\u00e9poserait \u00e9galement des rapports annuels. L'objectif ultime serait de jeter l'opprobre sur les auteurs d'atteintes graves aux droits de la personne, dans le monde entier.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"7417998\" data-originallang=\"en\">Nous nous devons d'aller de l\u2019avant avec ce projet de loi. Je suis heureux que nous en arrivions au point o\u00f9 il y aura probablement consentement unanime pour le renvoyer au comit\u00e9, mais je dirais \u00e0 mes coll\u00e8gues du Parti lib\u00e9ral qu\u2019au lieu d\u2019essayer d\u2019y apporter une s\u00e9rie d\u2019amendements au comit\u00e9, ils devraient plut\u00f4t \u00e9couter les personnes dont les droits de la personne ont \u00e9t\u00e9 viol\u00e9s par des fonctionnaires \u00e9trangers corrompus, par des individus qui, en mati\u00e8re de droits de la personne, font passer leur propre id\u00e9ologie ou leur propre richesse avant celles des citoyens qu\u2019ils sont cens\u00e9s servir.</p>\n<p data-HoCid=\"7417999\" data-originallang=\"en\">Nous devons recommencer \u00e0 imposer des sanctions de type Magnitski, comme le font nos alli\u00e9s, pour d\u00e9clarer solennellement que ces individus ont viol\u00e9 les droits de la personne de leurs concitoyens, qu\u2019ils sont corrompus, qu\u2019ils sont tenus de rendre des comptes et qu\u2019ils ne peuvent pas utiliser le Canada comme refuge. Le gouvernement h\u00e9site encore \u00e0 recourir aux sanctions au titre de la loi de Magnitski parce qu'il est tenu de faire un rapport trimestriel sur les institutions financi\u00e8res pour d\u00e9terminer si les personnes dont le nom figure sur les listes de sanctions prises en vertu de la loi de Magnitski utilisent nos institutions financi\u00e8res pour dissimuler leur richesse ou pour cacher leur famille ici et profiter de nos grandes universit\u00e9s. Ces pratiques doivent \u00eatre surveill\u00e9es, et la meilleure fa\u00e7on de le faire est d'adopter les modifications propos\u00e9es dans le projet de loi <a data-HoCid=\"11849768\" href=\"/bills/44-1/C-281/\" title=\"An Act to amend the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act, the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act (Sergei Magnitsky Law), the Broadcasting Act and the Prohibiting Cluster Munitions Act\">C-281</a>.</p>"
    },
    "url": "/debates/2022/11/14/james-bezan-1/",
    "politician_url": "/politicians/james-bezan/",
    "politician_membership_url": "/politicians/memberships/4235/",
    "procedural": false,
    "source_id": "11912035",
    "h1": {
        "en": "Private Members' Business",
        "fr": "Affaires \u00e9manant des d\u00e9put\u00e9s"
    },
    "h2": {
        "en": "International Human Rights Act",
        "fr": "Loi sur les droits de la personne \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9chelle internationale"
    },
    "document_url": "/debates/2022/11/14/",
    "related": {
        "document_speeches_url": "/speeches/?document=%2Fdebates%2F2022%2F11%2F14%2F"
    }
}