What you should know about the Campaign

What if you were told that you couldn't send food or medicine to Haiti? What if you were told you wouldn't be allowed to use your MasterCard in Florida?  Sounds ridiculous. And yet, US legislation prohibits basic expressions of human decency and economic involvement with Cuba.  Not only does this legislation affect Americans, it affects people and business around the world, including Canadians.

As part of its long-running efforts to blockade Cuba, in 1992, the United States passes the Torcelli Act. Showing a troubling disdain for basic principles of human rights, the Torcelli Act prohibited the provision of food or medicine to Cuba. As a general matter, the law prohibits US companies to conduct trade with Cuba more generally. The Act also covers the subsidiaries of US companies based outside of the United States.

Not content with this, in 1996, the United States passed into law the Helms-Burton Act. Condemned by the Council of Europe, Canada, Mexico, Britain and many other countries and organizations, Helms-Burton (among many other restrictive measures), made it a crime to buy, sell, profit from or otherwise improve properties in Cuba which were formerly held by Cuban expatriates.

Why you should you get involved

There is no reason for Canadians to allow the United States to dictate our relationship to Cuba. Kim Campbell, then Prime Minister of Canada declared Helms-Burton to be “bad law and bad policy—which violates international law.” Over the years, at least one Canadian has been criminally prosecuted for violation of Helms-Burton. James Sabzali was fined $10,000 and sentenced to one year's probation for exporting goods to Cuba.

These acts make it a civil offense for individuals, businesses and many nongovernmental organizations to conduct themselves freely with regard to their work with Cuba. For example, a company in Canada that wished to build a hotel on property abandoned by a Cuban expatriate could be subject to civil lawsuits filed in the United States by that Cuban expatriate under Helms-Burton. An NGO that wanted to provide medical or food supplies to Cuba could be charged under the Torcelli Act.

The laws infringe clearly on the human rights of Canadians (not to mention Americans, Cubans and many others) and are an affront to basic assumptions of international law. Due to the invasive and extraterritorial nature of the legislation, people around the world are subject to unjust US laws and misguided US political sensibilities.

One of the most recent applications of the law has been through MasterCards issued by Credit Union Electronic Transaction Serivces (acquired by MBNA Canada, owned by the Bank of America). These MasterCards will not work in Cuba. Though Canada's Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act (FEMA) was written specifically to protect Canadians from these kinds of US laws (indeed, FEMA makes it a crime for Canadian companies to comply with these laws in some instances), FEMA is rarely enforced.

Take Action

Write to your member of Parliament, to the Prime Minister and to the Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments. Let them know that Canadians stand behind both international law, national sovereignty and the prerogatives of communities to pursue more just social relations through trade and aid! Visit the CNC Web site to learn more about this campaign.

Prime Minister's office
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, K1A 0A2
Fax: 613-941-6900

Ombudsman for Banking Services and Investments
PO Box 896, Station Adelaide
Toronto, ON M5C 2K3
Telephone: 1-888-451-4519