President Vladimir Putin. The Russian government denounced the report. This month, a Russian doctor responsible for the country's anti-doping policy insisted that there had been an elaborate program to promote the use of drugs in sport, and that it had been deliberate government policy. Again, Moscow denounced the report.

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Both these alarming reports follow the well-documented actions of Russian officials to imprison and torture to death Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who had the courage to challenge the trumped-up case Russian authorities had taken against American investor William Browder. The U.S. Congress passed a law naming the Russian individuals responsible for the crimes against Mr. Magnitsky with carefully crafted economic sanctions against them, after a successful campaign led by Mr. Browder, despite opposition to such measuresfrom the U.S. State Department.

Mr. Browder has continued his efforts to expose the nature of Russian power and politics in Europe and Canada. Two years ago, the House of Commons unanimously agreed with Liberal MP Irwin Cotler's resolution to bring a Magnitsky law to Canada, aimed at naming Russian wrongdoers, preventing their travel to Canada, and freezing any assets they might have in this country. The Liberal Party promised to bring in such a law if it won the most recent election, but two weeks ago Foreign Minister Stéphane Dion rejected an all-party bid to do just that.

A private member's bill has now been tabled in Parliament, but there are those who aren't convinced that such a law is necessary or wise. They argue that it would make