The Canadian government plans this month to target a Russian oligarch using a law that allows the confiscation and redirection of assets held by those who are already under sanctions.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly said Monday that Canada will attempt to seize and confiscate US$26 million (about C$36 million) from Granite Capital Holdings, which is owned by Roman Abramovich.
Mr. Abramovich, a close friend of Russian President Vladimir Putin, is notably the former owner of the Chelsea soccer club in England. He is also co-owner of Evraz, a multinational steel company with a large plant in Regina and another plant in Calgary. The Russian oligarch has already been sanctioned in Canada under the Special Economic Measures (Russia) Regulations.
M’s officeme Joly says the minister “will now consider making a request to the court to permanently confiscate the assets” of Mr. Abramovich, and then redirect them to the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Strong support from Canadians
It would be the first time that this law has been used in this way. Parliament granted these powers last June and a recent poll in November showed that Canadians overwhelmingly support this exceptional measure.
Among the respondents, 90% said they supported the confiscation of the assets of Russian officials who lead the war effort in Ukraine, as well as the payment of this money to the victims of the invasion.
The poll was commissioned by Senators Donna Dasko and Ratna Omidvar, both members of the Independent Senators Group and appointed to the upper house on the advice of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The results of this poll, conducted among 1,025 people from November 27-29, suggested that there was almost the same level of support for confiscating the assets of Iranian officials who violate the human rights of their fellow citizens.
The hybrid telephone and online survey cannot be assigned a margin of error, since experts say that online surveys do not constitute a random sample of the population.
Senator Omidvar had helped craft the laws that allowed Canada to impose sanctions, with a private member’s bill that called on the federal government to seize and reallocate frozen Russian assets. She said recently that the poll showed “astonishing” popular support for this measure, and she wanted it to be implemented by Ottawa.
M’s officeme Joly also asserts that this would be the first time that a G7 country would implement such a measure of confiscation and reallocation of assets.