Canada announced tougher sanctions against Burma today in response to a violent crackdown by the country's military junta on demonstrators last August.
"Canada has long had measures against Burma. Now we are going to impose the toughest sanctions in the world," Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier said in a speech at the Economic Club of Toronto Wednesday.
"Tougher sanctions against Burma are the right thing to do. They are right on moral grounds. The regime in Burma is abhorrent to Canadian values."
Using the Special Economic Measures Act, Bernier said Ottawa will:
- ban all goods exported from Canada to Burma, excepting only the export of humanitarian goods
- ban all goods imported from Burma into Canada
- freeze assets in Canada of any designated Burmese nationals connected with the Burmese State
- prohibit the provision of Canadian financial services to and from Burma
- prohibit the export of any technical data to Burma
- ban new investment in Burma by Canadian persons and companies
- prohibit Canadian-registered ships or aircraft from docking or landing in Burma
- prohibit Burmese-registered ships or aircraft from docking or landing in Canada and passing through Canada.
"The strongest message has to be sent. Sanctions are the means by which we, not just Canada, but the international community, can best exert pressures against the military junta," said Bernier.
Imports from Burma to Canada totalled $5.8 million from January to September of this year, reports Statistics Canada.
There have been virtually no Canadian exports to Burma this year.
In previous years, Canada has exported some pharmaceutical products and some aerospace parts but overall exports are few, Peter Hall, deputy chief economist at Export Development Canada, told The Globe and Mail.
The pro-democracy uprising in Burma began in August when the government doubled its fuel prices in the already impoverished nation.
Burmese security forces brutally attacked protesters, detained Buddhist monks and raided monasteries.
State-run media said 10 people were killed, though dissidents maintain the death toll is much higher.
Bernier's announcement follows similar sanctions imposed in recent weeks by the U.S., European Union and Japan.
Last month, U.S. President George Bush issued a new round of crippling financial sanctions against Burma and its backers.
He made a particular point to call on Burma's neighbours, India and China, to intensify their pressure on the regime.
