Bill S-217

Frozen Assets Repurposing Act

An Act respecting the repurposing of certain seized, frozen or sequestrated assets

This enactment provides for the reporting and disposition of assets seized, frozen or sequestrated under the Special Economic Measures Act , the Freezing Assets of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act and the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act (Sergei Magnitsky Law) .

[Marty Morantz, Conservative, Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley, MB]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Thank you, Minister, for being here. It's been a very interesting discussion.

I want to talk to you about the broader role that charities can play in assisting your efforts in international development and assistance. Obviously, government has a major role to play, but charities also can play a major role in this regard.

Right now, there are three pieces of legislation at various stages in our system. Two of them are Senator Omidvar's. Bill S-216 is the effective and accountable charities act, and Bill S-217 is the frozen assets repurposing act. There is my own private member's bill, Bill C-240, which is the supporting Canadian charities act.

There's really no home in government for charities. In fact, my colleague, Mr. Genuis, asked a question about Bill S-216 a few days ago in question period and no one seemed to be able to answer the question. It was about what's happening with the idea of reforming the concept around direction control for charitable purposes. Senator Omidvar's bill would loosen that restriction by making it so that the charity would have to take reasonable steps in this regard.

How open are you to these types of bills in order to assist charities across the country in helping you do your job in international assistance and development?