Madam Speaker, it is an honour to rise today to speak in support of Bill C‑219.
I also want to thank the member for Selkirk—Interlake—Eastman for introducing this bill, as well as the members of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development for their work.
We are here today to talk, first off, about a new and important update around the sanctions regime. At the same time, we are honouring an important figure in world history, Sergei Magnitsky, who was a brave soul and brave person who stood up to tyrants, who stood up to those who were abusing rights. He gave his life for that at the age of 37. We know that he was imprisoned and suffered grave mistreatment. Even after he died at 37 years of age, he was tried, the reasons for which just boggle the mind. The man had already lost his life and he was tried after the fact.
We are honouring Sergei Magnitsky, an important individual in world history. While thinking about his name, we can take his example and remember what he did. He challenged authority, he challenged injustice and he stood strong. That is what I would suggest we in this House all need to do.
This bill is an improvement from one that was previously deposited in a previous Parliament, and a number of fixes have come about. Before I get to that, though, it is important to note that 60% of the sanctions that Canada has implemented have manifested within the last four years. These sanctions have touched on a number of different themes and different subjects. They include sanctions against Russian officials due to the unjustified occupation and war in Ukraine. They include sanctions against Chinese officials for what is happening within the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. They include sanctions against West Bank settlers because of activities in the State of Palestine, West Bank. They include sanctions against the IRGC and Russian officials because of what the IRGC has done to its own people. There are others. These sanctions are an important signal to those who break international norms and abuse human rights and are a deterring mechanism so that anybody who abuses basic dignity and promotes grave violations knows they will face consequences.
Canada has always stood up for human rights. Within the international community, we are looked upon as a leading voice and are looked upon as a country that promotes the rules-based order. Therefore, this update put forth by the member opposite is an important update and is salutary.
It is important to note the people who have been working here in Canada and overseas on this. At the subcommittee on international human rights, we did a study on a particular aspect that relates to this legislation: transnational repression. We heard from a number of witnesses who themselves had been subject to transnational repression or were advocating on behalf of those who had been subject to transnational repression. They included Tibetans. They included Falun Gong and Falun Dafa advocates. They included Uyghurs. They included Hong Kongers, and others. We heard from those who have suffered repression from Iran's government and Russia, just to name a few countries.
All of those brave souls spoke about the different methods of transnational repression. They spoke about how they and their families were harassed and intimidated and how that happened both online and off-line, and said that anonymous people during important moments sought to intimidate and silence them. These people chose not to be silenced, though, like Sergei Magnitsky.
They have shared how challenging it is to be working in an environment where there is transnational repression and how important it is for us, as a country, to confront it, respond to it and address it. There are a number of ways in which we address it. One way is through our intelligence agencies and the RCMP, which are fully monitoring what is happening and ensuring that foreign actors are not involved in transnational repression or foreign interference. There are reports that can be made to the police and to the RCMP. While they are not perfect, they exist and they are a method to address this issue. The updated legislation we are addressing today is another method, because it would allow for sanctions to be administered when individuals are propagating transnational repression, whatever its form, be it in person, online or in any way.
I also want to speak about the importance of those who are raising their voice, not only here in Canada but overseas. Initially, when this legislation was deposited in the previous Parliament, it asked that we give details that would have compromised human rights defenders overseas. Thankfully, that has been fixed in this legislation by the foreign affairs committee. What happened is—