The law prevents people from entering Canada, but it doesn't oblige the government.... First of all, it allows the government to prevent them if it chooses to. It doesn't oblige them to. It doesn't freeze their assets and it doesn't name their names.
There are three things about the Magnitsky Act that are unique and useful and that go beyond what exists under current legislation in Canada. The U.S. version went beyond current legislation in the United States. That's the first thing. It requires the government to name the names publicly on a federal register, which is extremely important. The second is that it obliges them to ban their visas, and then it freezes their assets. That doesn't exist under current legislation.
I can tell you one thing, and it's hard to appreciate it if you're not a specialist on sanctions; I've become a specialist on sanctions through this exercise. However, if a person's name is on an international sanctions list, that's pretty much the end of their financial life. If you're on a sanctions list, whether it's a Canadian sanctions list, a U.S. sanctions list, or a European sanctions list—even on one and not all three—every bank in the world runs a database of who is on the sanctions list—every bank.
If someone is on a Canadian sanctions list and no other sanctions list, they won't be able to open an account at RBS in London. Most companies won't want to do business with them when they do their due diligence on that person. Even if they have no assets in Canada, naming and shaming them and putting them in that position has a very material, very direct, and very negative impact on their lives.
The existing legislation doesn't do that.