Hon. Peter Harder: Honourable senators, it is a pleasure for me to rise to speak to Bill C-219 as the Senate’s friendly critic. As Senator Housakos, the sponsor of the bill, indicated in his speech last Thursday, Bill C-219 is entitled 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) and the Special Economic Measures Act, or, in short, the international anti-corruption and human rights act (Sergei Magnitsky law no. 3).

Colleagues, almost exactly 10 years ago last week, we began the debate on Senator Andreychuk’s private member’s bill, the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act (Sergei Magnitsky Law). We have had before this chamber various measures associated with a sanctions policy that evolved during that decade. I commend for your review a major Senate Foreign Affairs and International Trade Committee report that was the five-year legislative review of the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act (Sergei Magnitsky Law), which was tabled in this chamber three years ago.

Those are subjects regarding which we have had some literacy during that time. The alterations to the regime have reflected the experiences and the interests of parliamentarians and, indeed, officials in the ongoing work dealing with the sanctions policy against measures that violate human rights.

Senator Housakos eloquently described the bill in some detail, so you will know that it makes important reforms that provide a more transparent and updated form of Canada’s sanctions regime to reflect the challenges that have been experienced in the past while and increase the efficacy of these laws, I believe.

I should also note that, over the last 10 years, this has been a bipartisan effort. This bill comes to us through the work of James Bezan, the Conservative member of Parliament for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman, but it was also a bill that was heavily studied and negotiated, as it came to committee in the other place. It comes to us today as a unanimous bill. I want to go into some of the features that allow me to say with confidence that this bill is worthy of not only our attention but our prompt attention.

First, this bill would amend the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Act to require the minister to report annually on human rights efforts, including efforts to secure and release human rights defenders and prisoners of conscience.

Second, the bill would amend the Special Economic Measures Act, or SEMA, and the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act (Sergei Magnitsky Law) to lower the threshold for the use of sanctions to be inclusive of emerging threats by transnational repression and cybercrime. It also provides for increased penalties, establishes clear timelines and renames Canada’s existing sanctions legislation to commemorate and memorialize Sergei Magnitsky.

The other place amended the reporting provisions to take into consideration the precarious situation that prisoners of conscience and human rights defenders are in, while still making sure the government is accountable to Parliament in publishing an annual review of its activities. The other place adopted not just a sanctions trigger for transnational repression but a broadened trigger for undermining peace, stability and democracy, which will enable the government to sanction individuals for a wide range of transnational crimes, including cybercrime, organized crime, arbitrary detention, undermining democracy and more.

It also ensures that seizures of private assets of sanctioned individuals will have clear legislated timelines. The provisions have also increased and aligned evasion penalties to be consistent with existing legislation.

This is an important piece of legislation that strengthens our sanctions regime; yet, we must understand that the sanctions regime is but one tool in the tool box and is not always the most effective or efficacious one.

While we have had a sanctions regime for some years, and the global use of sanctions has increased significantly, it has had limited effects. Yes, it has sanctioned nearly 4,000 entities and vessels in Canada — those are Canadian sanctions — since 2022, and over 5,000 individuals and entities have been designated by Canada across its autonomous sanctions regimes. Indeed, Canada remains at the forefront of working with other countries to provide sanctions coordination. However, sanctions are not enough to deal with Ukraine.

My plea is this: Let’s adopt this bill, but let’s also recognize that we have to double down on other aspects of Canada’s engagement, and, indeed, the Western alliance’s engagement with Ukraine. That is for another day.

However, please do not think we are solving the issue; we are advancing the protections of human rights and ensuring that Canada remains at the forefront of these efforts.

A sanctions policy is not without some unintended consequences, and there is a body of literature that will importantly shape our understanding of how a sanctions policy can be weaponized by some nationalities or leaders in ways that are not helpful to a sanctions regime. However, that is for another day, as well.

For today, it’s important for this chamber, in solidarity with the unanimous view of the other chamber, to act quickly so that the signal can be sent to those who need to hear it that Canada stands at the forefront of sanctions policies and that these regimes deserve the attention and serious consequences that our sanction regime poses.

Therefore, with your support, I would like to call the question so that we can advance this bill as quickly as possible.