Mr. Speaker, let me know when I am close to five minutes, because we have very little time left and I would like to give time to my colleague so he can make his closing remarks. I know the bill is very important to him.
I do not want to repeat what everyone else said. I too had the privilege of meeting Bill Browder and hearing the story of Sergei Magnitsky. It is important for us and those following the proceedings to keep in mind that this is about more than a couple of corrupt actors in Russia. There are reprehensible actions that occur around the globe, and the purpose of this legislation is to protect Canadians from receiving corrupt dollars and, frankly, to prevent Canadians from interacting with and having financial dealings with those who seriously violate human rights, are severely corrupt, and may resort to torture. It is important for us to recognize that we are addressing very clear and sordid examples with this legislation. I stand by that.
It was a very sad tale, and it is sad to say that there are many such tales around the world. It is long past time for us to have strong legislation in this country so that our government can move forward expeditiously when it wants to take action to prevent this kind of sordid investment coming here, and to send a message to officials around the world and to those who deal with officials around the world who may be involved in severe violations of human rights, torture, and corruption.
This legislation would also prevent laundered money coming here from around the world. This is something that we can do as one more step to stop this kind of action. It is our way of protecting people in other countries so that corrupt officials cannot get away with their sordid actions.
The purpose of this legislation is to enable us to act in a way that would prevent people from emigrating to this country or coming here to do business, as well as prevent them from investing the profits from their sordid activities. Both are extremely important. It is important that people recognize that we will be able to do twice as many things with this legislation.
In closing, as I mentioned to the hon. member who tabled this bill, it will be equally important that the government act on this legislation. It is one thing to enact a law; it is another to act. I am pleased to hear from the hon. member that there will be measures that would enable individuals to bring forward recommendations for further sanctions.
I look forward to the closing speech.