Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development

Comité permanent des affaires étrangères et du développement international

For immediate release

Ottawa, June 22, 2017 -

Today, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development examined Bill S-226, the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act (Sergei Magnitsky Law), and unanimously agreed to report the bill back to the House of Commons with amendments.

The purpose of Bill S-226 is to provide the government with the authority to impose sanctions against foreign nationals who have committed gross violations of internationally recognized human rights or “acts of significant corruption.” The bill also proposes related amendments to the Special Economic Measures Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, including making those targeted by the new sanctions inadmissible to Canada.

As part of its clause-by-clause consideration of Bill S-226, the Committee agreed to several technical amendments aimed at strengthening, among other things, the sections of the bill related to criminal offences for sanctions violations and due process for persons subject to sanctions measures.

The Committee’s consideration of Bill S-226 follows on the release of its recent report, A Coherent and Effective Approach to Canada’s Sanctions Regimes: Sergei Magnitsky and Beyond. That report was the culmination of the Committee’s statutory review of the Freezing Assets of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act and the Special Economic Measures Act.

The full text of the Committee’s report relating to its clause-by-clause consideration of Bill S-226 is available on its website.