OTTAWA (CU)_Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late-February, some of the most developed economies across the globe announced sanctions on a list of Russian individuals and entities, including several government officials and some of the biggest financial institutions in the transcontinental nation. The moves were aimed at crippling Russia’s economy in response to its growing aggression in the neighbouring country.
However, these measures have proven to be insufficient as several parts of Ukraine are still under heavy attack, with Moscow bombing hospitals, railway stations and schools sheltering hundreds of Ukrainians, women and children in particular. Accordingly, officials from the war-torn nation are calling on its allies to react to Russian aggression “much hasher and faster”, and this appears to be the objective behind a ways and means motion tabled by the Canadian government recently.
Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said the federal government is looking to change its sanction laws so as to allow seized and sanctioned foreign assets to be redistributed to victims as compensation or for the purpose of rebuilding a foreign state from war. The change, which is aimed at applying “maximum pressure” on the Kremlin, would make Canada the first among Group of Seven countries to allow such actions.
“We are seeking the capacity to not only seize but to allow for the forfeiture of the assets of sanctioned individuals and entities and to allow us to compensate victims with the proceeds,” the Foreign Affairs Minister said in a statement. “Already, sanctions are crippling Russia’s economy and are depleting the resources Putin has to continue his illegal war. We will continue to apply maximum pressure on the Putin regime and impose severe costs for this war of choice.”
However, Senator Yuen Pau Woo is questioning if would be wise to sell of assets seized under sanction laws, as he pointed out that such a move would remove incentive for the owners of the assets to comply with the change in behaviour expected by the sanctions. “One could in fact argue that with Russia continuing to wage war in Ukraine, this is possibly the wrong time to be thinking about repurposing seized Russian assets,” he said in the Senate chamber. “A sanctioned asset that is frozen has the potential for the asset to be returned if the owner changes his or her behaviour in accordance with the objective of the sanction. On the other hand, a sanctioned asset that is repurposed removes any incentive for the owner to change.”
