Foreign Affairs committee  Certainly, it's recognized that in the United Nations, for instance, it is increasingly difficult to get a Security Council resolution for states to act in that forum multilaterally. I would, though, recommend ways to ensure that multilateral action takes place, even if it is wi

Foreign Affairs committee  I'll be clear: it's not that I'm saying not to proceed; I'm saying that if we choose to proceed, we should do so carefully, and I'm saying there are ways. When I say not to act unilaterally, I believe Canada shouldn't be acting alone. However, if we think of the example of Russia

Foreign Affairs committee  I have heard you speak about this man before, but I don't know anything about the individual case, beyond what's in the news.

Foreign Affairs committee  What is your question, Mr. Kent?

Foreign Affairs committee  Right. If Canada were to act through SEMA, either by broadening the provisions under SEMA or by passing an individual Magnitsky Act, the intention would be for Canada to act together with the United States, and I think the desire by Mr. Browder, which he's expressed in the past,

Foreign Affairs committee  Thanks for the question. Whether gross violation of human rights should be added to the act or not is a decision that you're going to have to make, but I guess I would say that it's important to bear in mind that there are already lots of ways that gross violations of human rig

Foreign Affairs committee  Okay. Under that threshold, I'm not a big proponent of Canada's acting unilaterally in this way through the use of SEMA, although I think there are many things that Canada could do unilaterally outside of SEMA, including such things as travel bans, which fall entirely under Canad

Foreign Affairs committee  Do you mean under the SEMA legislation?

Foreign Affairs committee  Actually, I don't have very much to say about FACFOA, mostly because it's a fairly specific act. I think other witnesses spoke about its being a very particular piece of legislation. It's not that I have hesitations necessarily about the government or Parliament deciding that it

Foreign Affairs committee  Sure. I agree wholeheartedly that travel bans place the responsibility on the federal government of Canada to implement them and to absorb the associated costs. I would just make the general comment that sanctions gained popularity as an alternative to war. I think we should bea

Foreign Affairs committee  Sure. Thanks for the question. There is some scholarly literature on the Magnitsky Act in the U.S. I'm happy to send it on to the clerk of the committee, if that's helpful. There is one particularly accessible article written about this from the U.S. I think it's safe to say th

Foreign Affairs committee  Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for inviting me to appear before your committee. It is a pleasure to be here today. The presentation that I'm making today is based on my experience working with Canadian sanctions legislation and policy instruments as a former foreign affairs ad