Egypt's Hosni Mubarak is the latest in a growing list of embattled foreign leaders believed to have sought refuge for their fortunes in Canada.

Canadian government officials have told CTV News that the ousted president, as well as individuals in his deposed regime, have investments here that Egyptian authorities have requested be frozen.

In light of efforts to also freeze the Canadian-based assets of Libya's Moammar Gadhafi and former Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, some are quietly calling the practice of foreign despots squirreling their fortunes away in this country "Canada's dirty little secret."

But before the whispers grow any louder, the ministers of foreign affairs and justice announced a new bill Thursday they hope will make it easier for Canadian authorities to bring the practice to an end.

"As a country that defends the principle of democracy, human rights and right of law, Canada wants to support all countries that try to get away from tyranny and implement a democracy," Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon told reporters in Ottawa Thursday, as he and Minister of Justice Rob Nicholson announced the Freezing Assets of Corrupt Regimes Act.

"We need to act quickly when the assets from these corrupt regimes are moved into Canada," Nicholson told CTV's Power Play later Thursday. "We want to send a message out that this is not going to be tolerated."

Under the terms of the proposed legislation, Nicholson said the process would begin with the foreign state submitting a written request that asserts the assets were acquired by means of the individual's political office or family connections.

Then, Nicholson explained, three conditions would have to be met.

"That they are people who have or held important positions in foreign states, including close personal and business associates and family members.

"That the foreign state is in a situation of internal turmoil or political uncertainty and that the making of an order for regulation is in the interest of the international community."

Canada recently froze more than $2 billion in assets linked to Gadhafi, but when the government tried to freeze assets linked to the family of Tunisia's ousted president, lawmakers complained they were legally hamstrung.

Ben Ali's fortune in Canada is estimated to be worth between $10 and $20 million, but there is no proof the money is "dirty."

Under current Canadian laws, a foreign regime's assets can be frozen if it is already subject to United Nations sanctions, or if the assets are proven to be the product of criminal activity.

Because Ben Ali and the Canadian assets linked to his regime met neither condition, Ottawa was unable to proceed.

Nicholson said this latest legislation, with its ability to freeze assets without proof of criminality, should prevent those circumstances from arising again by temporarily freezing assets, "for a period of time to permit the foreign state to initiate the necessary proceedings to allow for seizure and forfeiture under other applicable laws."

The Act would see freezing orders expire automatically after five years, although that period could be extended, Nicholson said.

"That would give the opportunity for the new government of the country we are trying assist ... to make the applications, to file the kind of evidence that they need," he said of the five-year period.

The justice minister said the new legislation would allow the government to have a better grasp on the amount of assets held in Canada by foreign dictators.

With files from CTV News in Ottawa and The Canadian Press