Godfrey-Milliken Bill, officially the The American Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (Loyalty) Act was a Private Member's Bill introduced in the Canadian parliament by Liberal MPs Peter Milliken and John Godfrey. The bill was a parody and attack on the American Helms-Burton Act.

The Helms-Burton Act set up stringent punishments on any business or person that profited from property of American businesses and people that had been seized in the Cuban Revolution. The bill included a policy of punishing foreign nations and companies who had profited from this seized property. This included a number of Canadian companies.

The 1996 Godfrey-Milliken Bill responded by calling for descendents of United Empire Loyalists who fled the American Revolution to be able to reclaim land and property that was confiscated by the American government. The bill would have also allowed the Canadian government to exclude corporate officers, or controlling shareholders of companies that possess property formerly owned by Loyalists, as well as the spouse and minor child of such persons from entering Canada. In total some three million Canadians are descendents of United Empire Loyalists, including Milliken and Godfrey. The current value of the land and property seized during the American Revolution is many billions of dollars.

The bill received widespread attention in Canada, and also some publicity south of the border including a feature on 60 Minutes.

The Godfrey-Milliken Bill did not become law, but neither were the harshest elements of the Helms-Burton Act ever implemented.

See also

• U.S. embargo against Cuba

External link

• Full text of the bill