The move comes in anticipation of Canada’s involvement in the Lunar Gateway project to create the first-ever space station in lunar orbit.

Bill C-19, which largely deals with Canada’s 2022 federal budget, includes a provision that any “Canadian crew member who, during a space flight, commits an act or omission outside Canada that if committed in Canada would constitute an indictable offence is deemed to have committed that act or omission in Canada”.

It applies specifically to acts or omissions committed “on, or in relation to, a flight element of the Lunar Gateway; on any means of transportation to or from the Lunar Gateway; or on the surface of the Moon”.

The amendment “means, presumably, that Canadians can currently murder and rob all they want, provided that they do it while in orbit”, the Calgary Herald notes.