432-01001 (Foreign affairs)

Whereas:

• Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the rule of law respect for human rights;
• Bill S-226, the Sergei Magnitsky Law (Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act), states that the Canadian Government can apply sanctions against a foreign national, responsible for or complicit in, gross violations of human rights, and against a foreign public official, or an associate, responsible for or complicit in ordering, controlling, or otherwise directing acts of significant corruption;
• Russia is the most corrupt country in Europe and ranking 129 out of 180 in the world based on Corruption Index;
• Alexey Navalny, a Russian opposition leader, was poisoned with a Russian government controlled chemical weapon, Novichok, and imprisoned on February 3, 2021 on charges declared illegitimate and politically motivated by the European Court of Human Rights, as an act of political persecution for his anti-corruption activism;
• Over 10,000 people have been detained during peaceful protests against the unlawful imprisonment of Alexey Navalny;
• Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, The President of the United States' Administration, G7 Foreign Ministers and European leaders have expressed their condemnation of Alexey Navalny's imprisonment and detentions of Russian citizens, practicing their right to the freedom of assembly and expression through peaceful protest;
• The Canadian government failed to join its allies, the United States, United Kingdom and the European Union, on March 2, 2021 in applying any sanctions on Russian officials or oligarchs connected to the poisoning of Alexey Navalny on a multilateral basis.

We, the undersigned, citizens and permanent residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to:

1. Impose sanctions, such as the Special Economic Measures Act and/or the Sergei Magnitsky Law, against individuals and entities who are associated with the regime of Russian President, Vladimir Putin, and who:

i. are responsible for human rights violations against Russian activists;

ii. have been identified by anti-corruption and rights activists as enablers of the government of President Vladimir Putin through corrupt practices; and,

iii. are responsible for interfering in Canada through malign influence operations, such as intimidation campaigns targeting Canadian activists and critics of the government of Vladimir Putin and also disinformation campaigns that promote Russian government aligned disinformation.

2. Offer asylum to Russian activists and dissidents who face political persecution for expressing their political views or attending peaceful protests.

3. Adopt as part of Canada's foreign policy agenda with Russia, advocacy to end political violence and persecution against journalists and activists in Russia, and also advocacy for the immediate release of all unjustly detained political prisoners in Russia.