As Neil Moss reports in an article published in The Hill Times, Canada took up proposals led by the World Refugee & Migration Council to repurpose assets seized from sanctioned individuals and entities as part of the 2022 federal budget. The federal government is now being sued by Volga-Dnepr, the firm that owns the Antonov An-123 aircraft sitting at Pearson Airport since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The following is an excerpt.
Fen Osler Hampson, president of the World Refugee & Migration Council, said two seizures — the Russian-owned Antonov An-123 aircraft and $26-million from a company owned by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich — by the Canadian government following changes to sanctions law in 2022 represent the “first two test cases” of the new regime.
The council was an early voice pushing for Canada to enact a forfeiture change to its sanction regime. Council member and Independent Senator Ratna Omidvar (Ontario) tabled a Senate bill to do just that before it was dropped from the Red Chamber’s Order Paper after the Liberals announced they would forward the initiative in the 2022 budget.
Hampson said that based on his conversations, the arbitration over the seized plane is up in the air.
“[As] the legislation was drafted there was also recognition that you can’t confiscate assets willy nilly. You have to use due process or you’re going to be just as bad as [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” he said. “The wheels of justice in Canada move very slowly, and those who are supportive of this recognize that having legislation in place doesn’t mean it will be a slam dunk.”
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Former Liberal justice minister Allan Rock, a World Refugee Council special adviser, told The Hill Times that it isn’t a surprise that the owners of the seized assets are taking legal action.
“It’s entirely natural that they want to adjudicate it in front of a court, but we’re confident that the Canadian legislation—and the steps taken pursuant to the legislation—will be upheld as valid,” he said.
Rock said Canada has a right to seize private assets, noting it is a process overseen through judicial supervision.
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“Whether or not we end up with a lot of Russian assets seized in Canada, the signal we sent, the example we set, the leadership we showed is meaningful, and will have an impact internationally,” he said.
He said disappointment has grown as there has been a lack of willingness by some of Canada’s G7 allies to seize $300-billion in Russian state assets held in Western banks.
“We were disappointed that the G7 didn’t have the political will to do that,” he said.
Instead the G7 agreed to use the interest on the frozen $300-billion in assets to back loans for Ukraine.
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In Canada, Senator Omidvar is once again leading a push to drag Canada to the front of the line. Last October, she introduced Bill S-278 for the purpose of disposing foreign state assets.
When she introduced the bill, she said the principals of her current legislative effort and her previous one are the same.
“They are, first, that this is an illegal war that Russia has waged, and, therefore, Russia must be held accountable. Second, Russia must pay for the misery and damage it has wilfully wrought. Third, Russia must pay now and not at some vague point in the future,” she said.
Omidvar said that Canada has a “unique opportunity” that is “low risk, yet high impact” as only a small amount of Russian state assets are located within Canadian borders.
Since the State Immunity Act grants foreign governments amnesty from any action in Canadian courts, Omidvar’s bill proposes a workaround by having a cabinet order seize a government’s assets that are located on Canadian soil.
