Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you, Ms. Kusie.
I will say hello to both of those folks, and I know both of us are thinking very fondly of Art Riel in his illness.
The House of Commons has made clear what its opinion is in this matter. The government has the ultimate responsibility for deciding when and how to proceed with sanctions. As Mr. Fishman has mentioned, there have been sanction measures launched against various elements of the IRGC or surrogate organizations, partly under the Criminal Code, partly under the United Nations Act, and partly under the Special Economic Measures Act. There is also the new legislation that potentially could be used in appropriate circumstances, in the form of the Magnitsky type of sanctions that have been proposed. The government will have to make that decision.
I would just make two points about some factors that will go into that decision.
First of all, you need to be absolutely sure of your legal ground so you don't set up an easy legal challenge, which would be a propaganda victory for the other side. There are legal arguments affecting the use of certain provisions in the law. It would be, I think, incumbent on the government to weigh all of the arguments, including what we've heard this afternoon from Mr. Fishman, taking into account all of the pros and cons in making sure you're not giving the other side an easy propaganda win.
Second, when implementing sanctions, it is prudent, I think, to try very hard to act in concert with other nations so that it's not Canada acting alone, as symbolically important as that could be, but so that we have a group of countries acting together in concert to make this an international indictment and not just a unilateral indictment.
I think all of that is important, but I hear your point. Parliament has expressed its opinion. The government will need to decide.