Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird announced targeted sanctions on key figures in the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad Tuesday, following brutal crackdowns that have left hundreds of civilians dead.
Some human rights groups estimate that 1,000 people have been killed since pro-democracy protests began in Syria about two months ago. Other reports have put the number of deaths at more than 800.
"This abhorrent crackdown must end, it is a grave breach of international peace," Baird said in Ottawa on Tuesday afternoon.
Baird stressed that the sanctions would be focused on specific individuals in Syria. The sanctions will forbid certain individuals from travelling to Canada or taking part in financial transactions involving Canada.
He said that any transfer of goods and technology to Syria to be used by police, the military or similar state functions will not be allowed under the new sanctions. But since Canada exports only about $60 million worth of goods each year, the measures could be seen as symbolic.
The sanctions from Ottawa follow similar moves by the United States and the European Union, said former Middle East ambassador Michael Bell.
"I think it's very predictable, in the sense that the Americans have done this, the European Union has done it," Bell told CTV's Power Play.
While the measures are aimed at the Syrian regime, Bell said that sanctions nevertheless have the tendency to affect regular citizens as well.
In fact, the recent moves from Washington are the latest step in a series of sanctions enacted on Syria in 2004 and 2006, Bell said. But he added that those measures have not been very effective in the past.
"The Syrian regime is very, very hard-line and very, very suspicious of the outside world," Bell said, adding that Assad isn't likely to make concessions.
Earlier, Baird stressed that Syrians should be allowed freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.
Along with killings, Baird said that hundreds of citizens have been injured and thousands more have been arrested.
"Their call for a more democratic society has been heard," Baird said.
"The international community is not standing idly by, and neither is Canada."
With a report from The Canadian Press
