“Canada has long had measures against Burma. Now we are going to impose the toughest sanctions in the world,” Mr. Bernier said during a speech to the Economic Club of Toronto.
“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,” he said.
The sanctions include a ban on all imports and exports to and from Burma, except for humanitarian goods, and a ban on new investment by Canadians and Canadian companies.
As well, Ottawa will freeze assets in Canada of any designated Burmese nationals connected with the junta, prohibit the provision of Canadian financial services to and from Canada, and prohibit the export of any technical data to Myanmar. Canadian-registered ships and aircraft will be prohibited from docking or landing in the country.
“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,” Mr. Bernier said.
Recent trade figures show minimal exports and imports flowing between Canada and Burma.
This year, there have been virtually no Canadian exports to Burma. Imports from Burma to Canada, meantime, were $5.8-million in the first nine months of this year, according to Statistics Canada data released Friday.Canada has exported some pharmaceutical products and shipped some aerospace parts in recent years, but exports to the country are generally "tiny," said Peter Hall, deputy chief economist at Export Development Canada.
Almost half of the $5.8-million in imports this year from Burma have been fish and seafood, according to Statscan's trade division. Woven apparel and vegetables have each accounted for almost $1-million, while other imports include knit apparel, wood, machinery, art, precious stones and straw.
In September, the junta ordered thousands of soldiers to crush protests by Buddhist monks in the streets of Rangoon. At least 10 people were killed. Hundreds more were held in detention.
The new Canadian sanctions, which follow similar announcements in recent weeks by the European Union and Japan, coincide with a warning by China, which is concerned international penalties could make Myanmar “another Iraq,” a senior diplomat said Wednesday.
Assistant Foreign Minister He Yafei said Myanmar was now headed in the right direction in the aftermath of mass protests demanding democracy and then a harsh wave of arrests.
Noting recent visits to Myanmar by U.N. special envoy Ibrahim Gambari and contacts between the imprisoned opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the ruling generals, He said now was the time for “encouragement”, not sanctions.
“We should be patient,” the Chinese diplomat told a news conference about a summit of Asian leaders in Singapore next week. “We especially disapprove of sanctions. Sanctions cannot solve the problem, and will only make matters worse.”
Meanwhile, a senior junta official said Myanmar rejects “interferences” in its domestic affairs, citing the need to protect its sovereignty.
Deputy Defence Minister Aye Myint told a news conference at the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting in Singapore that the former Burma was “stable”, and that its “home-grown principle is viable for the long-term operation of our political process”.
“We will not accept the interferences that will harm our sovereignty,” he said.
The 10-nation Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) is one of the few international groups to accept Myanmar as a member. It has been criticized for failing to bring the country into the fold despite its 10-year-old policy of engaging the nation through dialogue.
