Foreign Affairs committee  Yes—

Foreign Affairs committee  It goes back to a previous question. We obviously have to work within the legal institutional construct, which is our Government of Canada and the way that ministerial responsibilities are attributed and the space within which they operate. We have an immigration minister who de

Foreign Affairs committee  Under SEMA, we've applied the statute against 11 countries, and there are currently nine active regimes.

Foreign Affairs committee  With respect to sanctions in general, whether unilateral or not, they always entail some obvious consequences both for the target state and target individuals and for the sanctioning state. These include loss of commerce. Adversity can affect civilians, including in the form of l

Foreign Affairs committee  Sanctions, once applied, are monitored on an ongoing basis. Because they're part of a broader bilateral response in terms of.... Sorry, let me define that. Insofar as the sanctions are often taken within the context of a number of other discussions and activities that are going o

Foreign Affairs committee  Sorry?

Foreign Affairs committee  As Hugh was pointing out, I think we tend to work in various offices, in various points on the map, so to speak. If we're talking about a rapidly unfolding event that is the concern of the international community, there will be a lot of attention paid to this in New York City. Th

Foreign Affairs committee  Yes, indeed. I see Mr. Adsett nodding. Analyses have been conducted. There's no shortage of them. A number of good analyses in the public domain have been conducted by firms, academics or international organizations such as the United Nations. In general, the research and findi

Foreign Affairs committee  I could start by describing the roles and responsibilities, then let Mr. Adsett speak about asset freezing. Regarding our role, I could give you an overview of who does what, or, at least, who we work with and in what context. Our role is to provide advice and recommendations

Foreign Affairs committee  First and foremost, we do see sanctions as an exceptional tool because of the restrictions we are inherently applying to what are otherwise completely legal activities, as well as because of the risks associated with the use of sanctions. The way we look at their effectiveness is

Foreign Affairs committee  The short answer is that we're not aware. I think it would be inappropriate to offer a view for a number of reasons, including the sensitivities I think you're alluding to, given the way that you've posed your question, not the least of which, though, is that IRPA is the responsi

Foreign Affairs committee  We very much recognize that the Magnitsky case and potential legislative approaches to responding to that are of interest to this committee. We recognize, of course, as well, that there are a few bills in play, from both the previous session and this session, that will provide a

Foreign Affairs committee  Hugh will have some views on this, but I may add some at the end.

Foreign Affairs committee  You made some points about SEMA and our inability to deal with individuals who might be coming in. Without speaking to the powers that the government would have under another statute, such as IRPA, I would note that it is important to remember that a number of the actions we take

Foreign Affairs committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. My colleague, Hugh Adsett, and I are delighted to be here to support the committee's work, particularly given our respective responsibilities over policy and operations under SEMA and FACFOA. We recognize that the committee is interested in issues of sanct