OTTAWA, March 4 (UPI) -- In a response to Middle East revolutions, Canada is moving to secure the loot of fallen dictators.
The government has introduced a bill in Parliament empowering it to freeze the assets of foreign heads of state, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson and Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon told the CBC.
A U.N. resolution lets Canada freeze funds held by Libya's Moammar Gadhafi and his circle, but new legislation is needed to seize the wealth of deposed Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, who has a sister and brother-in-law in Montreal.
"This would allow the government of Canada to order the freezing of assets or the restraint of property of foreign, politically exposed persons," Nicholson said Thursday.
"If we're going to freeze someone's assets, we have to have a legal process in place in order to do that," Prime Minister Stephen Harper said.
Under the bill, for foreign assets to be frozen, the target must hold important positions in a state that is in internal turmoil and it must be in the interest of Canada's international relations to do so. A freeze would expire after five years unless extended.
