The Magnitsky Act is named after a Russian whistleblower who died in prison. It has nothing to do with Russian imperialism, but is meant to punish the Russian government for alleged domestic human rights abuses. Bissett's point was that Canada doesn't normally sanction countries for their domestic human rights abuses.   Freedom House gives Russia a very poor rating of six for civil rights (with 1 for best civil rights situation and 10 for worst). Our military ally Iraq gets the same ranking, Saudia Arabia, the country we have been making lucrative arms deals with, gets a ranking of seven. Tibet, occupied by the Chinese government Justin  Trudeau loves so much, is also a seven. Hysteria Freeland can't visit Russia now. If Canada and Russia start engaging in tit-for-tat sanctions against officials it could seriously reduce the ability to have face-to-face negotiations at a time when it is critically important.