(Ottawa) The Senate passed without amendment a bill aimed at unblocking Canadian aid to Afghanistan.
Amendments to the Criminal Code allow development aid workers to seek exemptions from terrorism laws, which currently criminalize paying taxes to the ruling Taliban because they are designated as a terrorist group.
Amendments from the Conservatives and New Democrats in the House of Commons also added a blanket exemption for aid workers who provide lifesaving aid in response to emergencies.
The passage of the bill by both Houses of Parliament comes more than a year after many of Canada’s allies granted exemptions for aid workers in their own terrorism laws.
Some senators had expressed concerns about how officials might enforce the bill, but the Senate gave unanimous consent to pass multiple stages of the bill at once, ensuring it will become law before a summer recess. .
The government has said officials are impartial and courts can be called upon to review rejected claims.