A pair of prominent Kremlin critics will testify Thursday before MPs in support of legislation that would overhaul Canada’s sanctions regime, drawing from their personal experience as targets of Russian coercion.
The House of Commons foreign affairs committee will hear from Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian-born opposition politician and journalist, and American-British financier and activist Bill Browder as it studies Bill C-219, a private member’s bill tabled last fall by Conservative MP James Bezan.
In an interview with Global News ahead of his virtual appearance at the committee, Browder said he hopes all parliamentarians can support the legislation.
“I would expect a unanimous vote in favour of this bill,” he said.
“It’s the job of parliamentarians, who generally are always on the right side of these issues because they’re public facing, to hold (the government’s) feet to the fire.”
The bill would define transnational repression in Canadian law for the first time and make the act punishable by sanctions, while expanding travel bans to include the relatives of sanctioned foreign officials. The latter measure would, for example, prevent the children of autocrats from studying in Canada.
Under the legislation, the foreign affairs minister would be compelled to respond to a parliamentary committee’s recommendation to impose sanctions on a foreign national by either acting or explaining why sanctions would not be laid.
It would also require the foreign affairs minister to submit an annual report to Parliament that includes a list of “prisoners of conscience” held by foreign states and the efforts Canada has taken to secure their release.
Browder said that the transparency requirement could make the government uncomfortable as it seeks to restore economic and diplomatic ties with countries like China, which continues to hold Canadians in detention and, in the case of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, have used detentions as a form of coercive diplomacy.
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“I think we should have something which is a little bit uncomfortable for the government, which is to force them to name these people’s names, to say these people are prisoners of conscience and that … we will care about them and they will be priorities,” he said.
The private member’s bill is named after Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian tax lawyer who worked with Browder and was arrested in 2008 after exposing a massive fraud scheme involving Russian officials. He died in a Russian detention centre in 2009 after, according to investigators, he was slowly tortured and denied medical treatment for his worsening condition.
Browder, along with Kara-Murza, soon began advocating for “Magnitsky laws” that allow governments to sanction foreign nationals responsible for human rights abuses and corruption. More than 30 countries have passed such laws, including Canada, the U.S. and several European states.
Canada has since used its Magnitsky Act, also known as the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act, to sanction officials in Russia, Venezuela and China, among other countries.
Bill C-219 would also rename Canada’s main economic sanctions tool the Special Economic Measures Act after Magnitsky.
“They (Russia) killed him for being a patriot, for being an honest person,” Browder said. “His death was a huge, huge blow to me because he was a friend and an ally and someone who effectively died in my service.
“His story, it’s really the ultimate good versus evil story … and the reason why there are 35 Magnitsky Acts around the world is because his story is so compelling and so persuasive. And sometimes it takes an individual story like this to move mountains.”
As a result of his advocacy, Browder was convicted in absentia by Russia, which has sought his arrest multiple times through Interpol — a form of transnational repression by the Kremlin.
Kara-Murza was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2023 after condemning Russia’s war in Ukraine and calling for Western sanctions. He spent more than a year in a Siberian penal colony before he was released in a 2024 prisoner exchange between Russia and the U.S.
The activist had previously survived two alleged poisoning attempts by Russian agents in 2015 and 2017.
Transnational repression has become an increasing concern among national security and law enforcement agencies in Canada, as well as diaspora communities, who have reported acts of intimidation on Canadian soil to stifle dissent from abroad.
Countries including India and Iran have been accused of sponsoring assassination attempts of dissidents in Canada — some of which have been successful, such as the murder of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in 2023, which former prime minister Justin Trudeau said was at the hands of individuals working for the Indian government.
Browder said it was important to address gaps in existing sanctions law, including the Magnitsky Act, and continue to hold hostile foreign actors accountable, something Bill C-219 aims to do.
“The bad guys evolve and the good guys have to evolve to deal with the bad guys,” he said.
A spokesperson for Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand’s office told Global News the government was committed to working with all parties on securing the bill’s passage, but hinted at changes it wants to see.
“Bill C-219 is well-intentioned and includes important measures to modernize our approach,” Myah Thomasi said in an emailed statement, but added that “some provisions as currently drafted could inadvertently undermine the safety of Canadians, create needless red tape, and hinder the effectiveness of sanctions.”
“With amendments, Bill C-219 has the potential to reinforce Canada’s role in defending human rights and adapting to today’s geostrategic challenges. We will continue to have constructive discussions in Parliament to strengthen and refine this Bill to get it to a place we can support.”
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