OTTAWA — A House of Commons committee says the Harper government should explore new ways to disrupt the flow of money to the militants of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
In addition to Canada’s current role of building and training local and regional security forces, the Commons finance committee wants the government to target ISIL’s administrators, financial collectors and distributors.
The MPs also urge the government to consider expanding the investigative capacities of the RCMP and other Canadian security agencies in order to ensure that they can address terrorist financing.
They also say the Canada Revenue Agency should be encouraged to work more closely with charities to ensure their compliance with anti—terrorist financing laws.
The opposition New Democrats support the majority report, but argue in a supplementary opinion that the government has fumbled the fight against terrorist financing.
The NDP says the federal revenue agency’s anti-terrorism budget has remained stagnant for years, even as the Conservatives found $13.4 million for the agency to audit charities — including many prominent environmental organizations.