Canada on Friday tightened its Syria sanctions, targeting the wife, mother, sister, and sister-in-law of President Bashar al-Assad one week after the European Union (EU) made a similar move. Intensifying its sanctions as fighting continued after al-Assad said he had accepted a peace plan to end a year of violence that has killed more than 9,000 people, Canada said it sought a "Syria that respects the fundamental rights of all its people." "Canada's position is clear: Assad must go," Foreign Minister John Baird said in a statement. "These latest sanctions target in particular those who profit from their association with the regime and those closest to Assad, including his wife Asma," Baird wrote. "Assad's family may be kept shielded from the misery of the average Syrian, but they will not be immune from international will." The four al-Assad relatives were among 12 people and two oil companies added to an existing Canadian blacklist totaling 127 individuals and 41 entities.