Bill C-412

2nd Session, 40th Parliament,

57-58 Elizabeth II, 2009

house of commons of canada

BILL C-412

An Act to combat incitement to genocide, domestic repression and nuclear armament in Iran

Whereas the Parliament of Canada and the Canadian people have the highest respect and admiration for the peoples of Iran and their great civilization;

Whereas the Parliament of Canada and the Canadian people are alarmed by the continuing human rights violations in Iran as condemned by the United Nations General Assembly, and by the nuclear development of Iran in breach of United Nations Security Council Resolutions;

Whereas the Parliament of Canada and the Canadian people are further alarmed by the incitement to hate and incitement to genocide emerging systematically from Iran, in violation of international law and, more specifically, in violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination;

Whereas the Parliament of Canada recognizes that international law mandates a response to these violations, and that targeting a response solely at Iran's nuclear threat mistakenly ignores the terrifying and vilifying context in which that threat operates and, however inadvertently, sanitizes the incitement to genocide and domestic repression occurring in Iran;

Whereas the Government of Canada has enacted the Regulations Implementing the United Nations Resolutions on Iran and wishes to affirm and expand upon the measures elaborated therein;

Now, therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate and House of Commons of Canada, enacts as follows:

SHORT TITLE

1. This Act may be cited as the Iran Accountability Act.

INTERPRETATION

2. The following definitions apply in this Act.

“business operations” means

(a) oil-related activities,

(b) the production or trade of military equipment,

(c) any activity that results in, facilitates, supports or accelerates, whether directly or indirectly, nuclear activity or the creation or dissemination of incitement to hate, or

(d) any activity that contravenes the Regulations Implementing the United Nations Res- olutions on Iran,

but does not include activities that are conducted under a licence from the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade or that have been expressly exempted under federal law from the requirement for such a licence.

“emanating from Iran” means, in respect of an incitement to hate, an incitement to hate that has been produced or published, spoken publicly or otherwise made public by officials or employees of Iran or by members of the clergy or members of the media in Iran.

“executive agency” means

(a) any of the departments named in Sched- ule I to the Financial Administration Act;

(b) any of the divisions or branches of the federal public administration set out in column I of Schedule I.1 to the Financial Administration Act;

(c) any organization named in Schedule II to the Financial Administration Act;

(d) a commission under the Inquiries Act that is designated by order of the Governor in Council as a department for the purposes of this Act; and

(e) the administration of the Senate, the House of Commons or the Library of Parliament, the office of the Senate Ethics Officer and the office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner.

“Genocide Convention” means the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (1948), to which Canada is a State Party.

“identifiable group” means any section of the public distinguished by colour, race, religion, ethnic origin or sexual orientation.

“incitement to hate” means any public comment, whether written or unwritten, inciting hatred or contempt against an identifiable group and, in particular, includes any public comment that

(a) advocates or promotes genocide, as defined in section 318 of the Criminal Code;

(b) incites to the elimination of any member State of the United Nations;

(c) denies the Holocaust; or

(d) otherwise incites hatred against Israel or Jews or the Jewish people through dehuman- izing or demonizing language, including language that uses biological and epidemiological metaphors such as “cancerous tumour” or “filthy bacteria”.

“Iran” means the Islamic Republic of Iran and includes its political subdivisions, departments and agencies.

“Israel” means the State of Israel and its political subdivisions, departments, agencies and inhabitants, including any entities and individuals denoted by the term “Zionist” or “Zionist entity”, or by any variation of those terms.

“listed entity” means an entity placed on a list established by the Governor in Council under section 83.05 of the Criminal Code.

“military equipment” means

(a) any type of weapon, ammunition, military vehicle or military or paramilitary equipment, and includes their spare parts; or

(b) supplies or services sold or provided, whether directly or indirectly, to any listed entity or to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

“Minister” means the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

“nuclear activity” means any activity performed with the aim of producing, facilitating the production of, or developing the capacity to produce, atomic energy or atomic weaponry and, for greater certainty, includes any activity that is within the verification, inspection or monitoring jurisdiction of the International Atomic Energy Agency and its subdivisions, as established by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, the Agreement between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency for the Application of Safeguards in connection with that treaty or the United Nations Security Council.

“oil-related activities” means importing, exporting, extracting, producing, refining, processing, exploring for, transporting, selling or trading oil or petroleum products, or constructing, maintaining, or operating a pipeline, refinery or other oil infrastructure.

“petroleum products” means petroleum and all products derived from petroleum, including gasoline.

CONTRACTS

3. (1) The head of each executive agency shall ensure that all contracts that have been entered into by the executive agency for the procurement of goods or services are supported by a certification from the other party to the contract that that party does not conduct business operations in Iran, for the benefit of Iran, or with any client based in Iran.

(2) If the head of an executive agency is not able to obtain the certification described under subsection (1) with respect to an existing contract within four weeks after the day on which this Act comes into force, the executive agency shall terminate the contract without further notice and without penalty, notwithstanding the terms of the contract, unless the continuation of the contractual relationship is specifically authorized by an Act of Parliament.

4. (1) No executive agency shall enter into a contract for the procurement of goods or services unless that contract includes a certification from the other party to the contract that that party does not conduct business operations in Iran, for the benefit of Iran, or with any client based in Iran.

(2) If, after a contract has been entered into under subsection (1), the head of the executive agency determines that the certification included in the contract is false, the executive agency shall terminate the contract within four weeks without penalty, notwithstanding the terms of the contract, unless the continuation of the contractual relationship is specifically authorized by an Act of Parliament.

(3) No executive agency shall enter into a contract with a person who has included a false certification in a contract mentioned in subsection (1) until at least three years have elapsed from the date on which the false certification was discovered.

DIVESTMENT

5. (1) Within six months after the day on which this Act comes into force, the Government of Canada shall divest itself of bonds, stocks and other financial instruments invested in Iran or in a commercial enterprise based in Iran, unless these investments are specifically authorized by an Act of Parliament.

(2) Subsection (1) does not preclude the Government of Canada from maintaining a bank account in a financial institution based in Iran for the purpose of paying the expenditures and operating costs of a Canadian Embassy, Canadian High Commission, Canadian Consular Office or other official representative office situated in Iran.

REPORT — IRANIAN INCITEMENT TO HATE

6. (1) The Minister shall publish annually, in the first week of October, a Report on Iranian Incitement to Hate.

(2) The Report on Iranian Incitement to Hate shall provide statistical information on the incidence of incitement to hate emanating from Iran during the calendar years from 2005 until the year in which the report is published.

(3) The Report on Iranian Incitement to Hate shall include translations in both official languages of all incidences of incitement to hate emanating from Iran in the 12 months preceding the publication of the report.

REPORT TO PARLIAMENT

7. The Minister shall, once in every six months from the day on which this Act comes into force, report to Parliament on the measures the Government of Canada has taken to meet Canada’s obligations to prevent genocide under the Genocide Convention.

RESOLUTION

8. Unless the most current Report on Iranian Incitement to Hate concludes that, in the 12 months preceding its publication, there have been no incidences of incitement to hate emanating from Iran that are directed against Israel or Jews or the Jewish people, the Government of Canada shall add the following text to any resolution it tables at the United Nations on human rights in Iran:

“Deplores the dehumanizing and demonizing of Israel, its inhabitants, Jews and the Jewish people by Iran, whether such dehumanization and demonization are accomplished expressly or implicitly through the use of such euphemisms as “Zionist” or “Zionist entity”.”

MEASURES

9. (1) The Minister shall work with the governments of other states in order to encourage each of those states to adopt measures that

(a) publicize the activities of its citizens who, directly or indirectly, assist Iran to continue its nuclear activities or its support of incitement to hate; and

(b) authorize divestment from commercial enterprises operated by those citizens and prevent further investment in such enterprises.

(2) The Minister shall, within three months after the end of each financial year, submit to Parliament a report on the work referred to in subsection (1) that has been carried out by the Minister during that financial year.

APPLICATION TO THE UNITED NATIONS

10. (1) Within three months after the day on which this Act comes into force, the Government of Canada shall, pursuant to Article 8 of the Genocide Convention, apply to the Security Council of the United Nations to identify the situation in Iran as a matter demanding immediate response and, in particular, to recommend that the Security Council

(a) establish a task force monitoring the incidence of incitement to hate in Iran; and

(b) impose targeted sanctions on Iran that are linked not only to its cooperation in suspending its nuclear activities, but also to its progress in eradicating incitement to hate and domestic abuses of human rights.

(2) Within three months after the day on which this Act comes into force, the Government of Canada shall, pursuant to Article 8 of the Genocide Convention, apply to the Secretary-General of the United Nations requesting that he or she

(a) identify the potential of a genocidal and nuclear Iran as a threat to international peace and security; and

(b) refer the matter to the Security Council of the United Nations pursuant to his or her authority under Article 99 of the Charter of the United Nations.

FREEZING OF PROPERTY

11. (1) No person in Canada and no Canadian outside Canada shall knowingly

(a) deal directly or indirectly in any property that is owned or controlled by or on behalf of a person who conducts business operations in Iran, for the benefit of Iran, or with any client based in Iran; or

(b) enter into or facilitate, directly or indi- rectly, any transaction in respect of property referred to in paragraph (a).

(2) For the purposes of this section, “business operations” does not include oil-related activities except for those activities prohibited under section 12.

PETROLEUM PRODUCTS

12. (1) No person in Canada and no Canadian outside Canada shall facilitate, finance or otherwise participate in the importation of petroleum products into Iran.

(2) Subsection (1) does not apply if the current Report on Iranian Incitement to Hate concludes that there have been no incidences of incitement to hate emanating from Iran in the 12 months preceding publication of the Report.

(3) This section comes into force six months after this Act receives royal assent.

INADMISSIBILITY TO CANADA

13. (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3), a permanent resident or foreign national who is identified in the current Report on Iranian Incitement to Hate as having produced or published, spoken publicly or otherwise made public an incitement to hate shall be deemed to be inadmissible to Canada.

(2) No person shall be deemed inadmissible to Canada pursuant to subsection (1) unless the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada determines that the incitement to hate in question, were it to have been committed in Canada, would constitute an offence under section 318 or 319 of the Criminal Code.

(3) No person shall be deemed inadmissible to Canada pursuant to subsection (1) if that person announces publicly that he or she regrets and repudiates the incitement to hate or, if he or she denies responsibility for the incitement to hate, confirms that he or she believes the incitement to hate to be false.

APPLICATION

14. (1) Subject to subsection (2), nothing in this Act abrogates, eliminates or replaces any provision of the Regulations Implementing the United Nations Resolutions on Iran.

(2) In case of any conflict between this Act and the Regulations Implementing the United Nations Resolutions on Iran, this Act shall prevail.

OFFENCES

15. (1) Any person who contravenes section 11 or 12 is guilty of an offence and is liable

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine of not more than $200,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than one year, or to both; or

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine of not more than $1,000,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than 10 years, or to both.

(2) For greater certainty, where a person, through the same conduct, commits an offence under this Act and under the United Nations Act, that person is liable to the penalties under both this Act and the United Nations Act.

REMEDIES

16. Any person may apply to a court of competent jurisdiction for an order of mandamus compelling an executive agency or the head of an executive agency to comply with his, her or its obligations under section 3, 4 or 5.

17. Subsection 35(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act is amended by striking out “or” after paragraph (b), adding “or” after paragraph (c) and adding the following after paragraph (c):