Madam Speaker, I believe we need to take a principled position, and with this legislation, we are. Russians need to realize that this is beyond just them. This is going to have global application. Are some oligarchs and some people in the Kremlin going to be caught up in the sanction list? Probably. All we have to do is look at all the human rights abuses that we have already documented and how many oligarchs are using shell companies to move money through Canada. Bill Browder was able to uncover 30 Russian shell companies that moved $20 million through banks here in Canada, and we cannot allow Canada to be used as a safe haven to launder money.
In the House of Commons on May 19th, 2017. See this statement in context.