Twenty parliamentarians call for an audit of the financial assets of Hong Kong officials in Canada

Today, a cross-party group of twenty Canadian parliamentarians have written to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Honourable Marc Garneau PC. MP, calling for an audit of the financial assets and connections Hong Kong officials have with Canada.

The letter states that the parliamentarians recognise the ‘substantial amount of research, evidence and scrutiny goes into the designation of individuals under the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act’.

They urge the Canadian Government to begin the process by auditing the Canadian assets of Hong Kong officials and their families, including: the Hong Kong Chief Executive, Chief Secretary, Financial Secretary, Secretary for Justice, Secretary for Security, Secretary for Education, Secretary for Home Affairs, Secretary for the Environment, Secretary for the Civil Service, and the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs.

The letter concludes that by undertaking an audit of the assets of Hong Kong officials in Canada, officials and parliamentarians will have a clear understanding of the effectiveness of including Hong Kong officials on a Magnitsky sanctions list.

The full letter can be found here.

Commenting on the letter, Sam Goodman, Hong Kong Watch Canada’s Senior Policy Advisor, said:

“Given the public knowledge of the personal links that a number of Hong Kong officials have to Canada, we welcome this important initiative from parliamentarians.

It is reasonable and necessary for the Government to undertake an audit of the financial assets and connections Hong Kong officials have in Canada, so that parliamentarians and officials can assess the effectiveness of including them on a Magnitsky Sanctions list.

We hope that the Minister will act on this request as a matter of urgency, so that Canada can move one step closer towards sanctioning Hong Kong officials guilty of human rights violations.”