Thank you!

Mon, Jan 21, 2008

Misc.

January 21, 2008Dear Rightoncanada.ca supporter,
Thanks to you and all the other people who called for strong action to support the courageous people of Burma, the Canadian government imposed strong economic sanctions on the Burmese military dictatorship in December 2007.

While much more remains to be done, this was an important advance. We thought you might like to see the information below from Canadian Friends of Burma.

With appreciation and solidarity,

Kathleen, Peggy, Pauline and Becky for RightOnCanada


Canada imposing tough economic sanctions against Burmese military regime

The measures include:

  • 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.

While the total trade between Canada and Burma has fallen from an estimated
$47 million in 2002 to just $8.5 million last year, there are still approximately seventeen companies investing or doing business directly or indirectly in Burma, says Maung Htoo, executive director of Canadian Friends of Burma (CFOB). “We are quite satisfied with the Canadian government’s sanctions but there are lots of loopholes and the sanctions don’t impact on existing investments which are still extensive.” 

CFOB and Foreign Affairs websites list many Canadian companies still doing business in Burma, but a lesser known fact is investments of Canadian
Pension Plan funds in non-Canadian companies in Burma and endowment funds
from Canadian universities. “The government should do something about this,” says Maung Htoo.

For more information, see Canadian Friends of Burma: http://cfob.org/

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