C-353 – The Foreign Hostage Takers Accountability Act – allows the federal government to take action against foreign groups or other countries that take Canadians hostage or arbitrarily detain them for political reasons.
Quick note here that when I talk about arbitrary detention I’m specifically talking about arresting someone for the sole purpose of having leverage over Canada, not arresting them for political reasons related to that person. Good example here would be Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, two Canadian citizens who were supposedly arrested by China in response to us arresting the CFO of Huawei. (Worth noting that China had other claims about why they were arrested, we’ll get into why that could be relevant in a bit)
Circumstances for Restrictive Measures
So first up we’ve got our definition of who the government can take action against. This would be any foreign national, state, or entity that takes a Canadian hostage or arbitrarily detains them. The government can also take action against anyone who’s assisted with this through any means, including financially, materially, or technologically.
Orders and Regulations
There’s a decent bit here but it all boils down to the government being able to issue sanctions against the offender. No Canadian or Canadian company can do business with them, purchase their services, provide them funds, etc. Of note here is that the government can issue permits that allow people to continue doing business with the offender, and can also issue general permits that allow anyone to participate in a particular type of business. (So they could potentially say you can still import Sony TVs but no other Sony electronics)
One other important note here is that any sanctions made against the offender need to include the date that they’ll expire. They can also be cancelled on the release of the hostage.
Forfeiture
The government will also have the ability to have a judge issue a forfeiture order for any assets owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by the offender. The judge will also inform anyone with an interest or right to the asset of the forfeiture and give them a timeframe that they’ll be allowed to apply for reimbursement for their share of it. Anyone not named by the judge will have 30 days after the forfeiture to make a claim for reimbursement as well.
Note that any companies seized through this will not be considered a Crown Corporation.
Request for Termination
Anyone affected by C-353 can apply to have any sanctions against them removed if they can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that they weren’t involved in the hostage-taking. An offender can also request sanctions be lifted if they were prosecuted/convicted for the hostage taking, released the hostage, or if it’s in the interest of national security to lift them. Once an application has been received the government has 90 days to make a decision on it.
Offences
Anyone who fails to follow any sanctions imposed on an offender can be punished with up to 5 years of prison if indicted or fined up to $25,000 and/or imprisoned for one year if convicted.
General
There’s a few miscellaneous bits here, including a clause that allows people to apply for a certificate that shows they are not, in fact, a foreign national involved in hostage-taking in the case of mistaken identity. The only part here really noteworthy is that any cost involved in seizing and/or disposing of property under C-353 will be charged back to the previous owner and the government has the right to pursue that money in court.
Assistance to Families
C-353 makes it so the government is expected to help the families of people who have been taken hostage. This includes providing guidance to them, directing them to appropriate supports and services for dealing with their situation, and facilitating communication with the person who’s been taken hostage.
Programs to Encourage Cooperation
The Minister will be able to work with the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration to create programs to encourage cooperation with the government when trying to free hostages. This will include monetary rewards for anyone that can provide critical information that leads to the release of a hostage.
Reports
Every year the Minister will be responsible for presenting a report on any Canadians being held hostage outside of Canada, and on the effectiveness of sanctions made under C-353. After 10 years a full review will be done on the effectiveness of C-353 to determine if any changes need to be made to it.
Author’s Note
So I’m just going to put in a note here regarding the “arbitrary detention” part of C-353. I’m curious just what the requirements would be to actually declare that an arbitrary detention is happening. Using the two Michaels as an example, the timing of their arrest definitely lines up with our arrest of the CFO of Huawei and could be considered an arbitrary detention under C-353, but China claims that they were spying on the Chinese government. It’s worth noting that Michael Spavor works for a company that promotes tourism in North Korea, and apparently has a personal relationship with Kim Jong-un, and Michael Kovrig was formerly a Canadian diplomat. That gives at least some credibility to China’s claim, so I’m not sure if C-353 could actually have been used to help get them released sooner than they were.
Progress
C-353 is currently outside of the Order of Precedence.