Russian assets must be seized; accounts of sexual violence ‘chilling’: Freeland
Global News
One expert said the budget marks a shift from an era of large-scale, emergency government spending to a transition period where inflation is — hopefully — a short-term phenomenon.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland says there is no better source of extra funds for Ukraine‘s recovery from the Russian invasion than from the assets of those backing the war.
In an interview with The West Block‘s Mercedes Stephenson, Freeland emphasized the proposal in the budget she tabled last week that would allow Canada’s minister of foreign affairs to not only freeze Russian assets, but seize them, too.
“Right now, we can freeze assets. What we need to do is have the power to seize those assets,” she said.
“Ukraine is going to need to be rebuilt. And I can think of no more appropriate source of funding for that rebuilding than the seized assets of the Russian central bank and of Russian oligarchs.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine without cause on Feb. 24, 2022.
Scores are dead as a result, and the scale of the Russian butchery of Ukrainian civilians has horrified the world and sparked the most direct challenge to the basic tenets of international law since the Second World War.
Last month, Canada and allies formed the Russian Elites, Proxies and Oligarchs (REPO) Taskforce as part of a bid to seize and forfeit the assets and wealth of individuals backing Putin’s unprovoked invasion.
As part of that, the budget announced “the government’s intent to clarify the ability of the Minister of Foreign Affairs to cause the forfeiture and disposal of assets held by sanctioned individuals and entities to support Canada’s participation in the REPO Taskforce.”
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