I think there's a lot that Canada could be doing to make our own sanctions regime more effective.
First and foremost is working with our allies to harmonize our policies and legislation with the United States, the EU and the U.K. We should be stepping up the enforcement of our sanctions policy. To date, since the start of the war, the RCMP has seized $122.3 million worth of Russian assets. We know for a fact that Russian oligarchs have billions of dollars of assets hidden well in plain sight in this country. We need to be doing a heck of a lot more. If we intend to use our sanctions policy as a consequence and a cost for these foreign regimes, we need to make sure we're using that legislation properly.
During the past six months, the Canadian government enacted new legislation and an amendment to the Special Economic Measures Act that would also allow our government to repurpose some of those assets that have been frozen. We need to start using that legislation. We need to start repurposing some of those billions of dollars that are hidden in this country. We could use some of those funds to help support Ukraine in its struggle to push Russia back past the February 24 border, to reclaim Crimea and to rebuild the country.
We could also be introducing a measure of transparency to the entire process of how those sanctions are imposed, who they're being imposed on and what sorts of assets these targeted individuals have. There should be some accountability through regular reporting.
I would also suggest that this committee be given the power to nominate candidates for our sanctions list. You are experts in Parliament. You've heard from experts and you know who these human rights abusers are, those who threaten the stability of western democracies even in their own countries. You know who these people are. Giving this committee more power to designate individuals and entities for our sanctions list is also important.
One of the most important things that you could do is have that review of our sanctions legislation as you've proposed. I and, I think, a lot of other human rights activists in Canada and elsewhere would very much support this as, I'm sure, Vladimir Kara-Murza would.