OTTAWA — Moscow is warning that relations with Canada are "on the verge of being severed" after the federal Liberal government moved to forfeit a massive Russian cargo plane.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Ukraine on the weekend, where he announced that Canada officially seized an airplane that had been sitting on the tarmac at Toronto's Pearson International Airport since February 2022.
"We perceive this act as cynical and shameless theft," Russia's foreign ministry said in an English-language statement posted Tuesday.
A year ago, Canada became the first G7 country to enact a law that allows Ottawa to not just seize assets held by sanctioned people, but to forfeit the money and have it diverted to victims of a sanctioned regime.
The law remains unused, but Trudeau said Ottawa plans to begin a process to either transfer the plane to Ukraine or sell it for money that would support the country's recovery.
"We're going to do it as quickly as possible, but I can tell you the Ukrainians are very pleased that the path has started," Trudeau said Saturday during an unannounced visit to Kyiv.
The Russian-registered Antonov AN-124 is owned by the firm Volga-Dneper, which Canada sanctioned in April. It is one of the largest aircraft in the world, and Ottawa fears Russia could use it to deliver military supplies in its invasion of Ukraine.
The government officially seized the aircraft through a June 8 cabinet order.
"I think there was pressure on the government to do something about it, because effectively it couldn't be moved, because Russian aircraft are prohibited from Canadian airspace," said William Pellerin, an Ottawa-based trade lawyer with the firm McMillan LLP.
He said the owners can launch a court challenge of the seizure up until the time Ottawa files a formal court application to forfeit the asset. At that point, the firm would receive written notice and have a chance to challenge the application.
"It's fair to say that this opens us up to reprisals. I think it's well known that the government of Russia has sanctioned a number of Canadians," said Pellerin.
To that end, Moscow said it is prepared to retaliate over "stolen Russian property," noting the plane landed in Toronto in order to deliver COVID-19 testing kits.
"The Russian side warns that the practical implementation of this decision will entail the most serious repercussions for Russian-Canadian relations, which are already on the verge of being severed," the ministry wrote.
"We reserve the right to retaliate in line with the reciprocity principle."
Moscow and Ottawa have summoned each other's ambassadors numerous times, with Canada arguing Russia is committing war crimes and spewing homophobic rhetoric on social media while the Kremlin says Canada isn't adequately protecting its Ottawa embassy.
"It's not surprising that Russia is taking this retaliatory stance," said Pellerin, who advises Canadian and international firms, but not Russian firms, on navigating the sanctions regime.
"Canada's approach to seizure and forfeiture is the first of its kind globally. It is certainly the case that Russia would be deeply concerned if other countries followed Canada's approach."
Meanwhile, Ottawa has yet to follow through on a promise six months ago to try seizing funds it says are held by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, with no application filed in any provincial court as of last month.
A Senate report last month warned that the legislation could put Canadian companies abroad at risk, and could undermine the rule of law if the provisions aren't enforced through due process.
"The government of Canada should proceed prudently with respect to any forfeiture process," the report argued, adding that working in lockstep with allies could "mitigate any unintended consequences."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 14, 2023.
Keep reading
Well, while we may consider
Well, while we may consider we have good and sufficient reason to do this, it's worth reflecting that the Russians are correct--it is stealing. We are stealing their stuff (because we think they are bad and deserve to have their stuff stolen). And if I were Russian, I would certainly figure that means it's OK to steal Canadian stuff back. And going forward, lots of countries with grievances against each other might figure it's OK to steal each other's stuff. And international trade and investment become pretty dashed dicey because you never know when your investment will just be stolen.
This might have its silver linings. Lord knows lots of Third World countries have reasons to take back plenty of stuff the West "invested" in, as in made offers they couldn't refuse for. I'm just saying, when you're starting to cut open a can of worms it's maybe wise to check the label first.
I'm gonna go out on a limb
I'm gonna go out on a limb and say if Russia hadn't invaded Ukraine in the first place, or even if they had left after 15 months and leaving behind an horrendous top on Ukraine (never mind their on people) that the plane wouldn't have been confiscated. Sometimes taking a stance may not please everyone, but to be complacent is to be complicit. And multiple war crimes are too much to ignore.
I am thinking it would be
I am thinking it would be best regarded as a prisoner, its fate to be decided during any agreement at the end of the war. Maybe its best use would be for transporting building materials from Russia to Ukraine after the war.
"We perceive this act as
"We perceive this act as cynical and shameless theft," Russia's foreign ministry said ..."
Oh how rich. Russia has been cynically and shamelessly stealing Ukrainian territory, grain, industrial products and household goods since February 2022, and topped it off with mass murder, rape, the levelling of cities and a hurricane of lies.
Canada's economy was larger than Russia's even before the war, with 1/3 the population. We are resilient enough to withstand anything Putin et al throws at us short of nukes; even those have been threatened so many times in the past 16 months that the threat has become meaningless bluster from terrible and laughable stage actors. Putin & Company know the ramifications, but given the growing infighting between pro-Russian war lords and the incompetent Russian armed forces, not to mention the impossibility of hiding 200,000 dead young Russian men from in trenches of the occupied areas, the challenge to the world by Putin may just happen to 'correct' itself in the coming months.
Canada cannot let itself slip by withholding support for widespread international sanctions against a small man who became a large tyrant only through the theft of his own country's financial assets and authority, the funding of a network of propaganda mouthpieces, and a Napoleonic complex founded on the fantasy of empire. Our obligations to NATO have also grown stronger of late, namely to undermine the threats to our democratic allies, just as we would have them do for us.
We need to be reminded that the Antinov aircraft was originally and is currently a Ukrainian product with HQ in Kyiv. Russia accuses Canada of "theft." Tough shit.
Comments