SoVote

Context: House Hansard - 137 - Nov/29/22

Mr. Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, CPC)

Nov/29/22 7:07:06 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, my question tonight is about the IRGC. The IRGC is the Iranian regime's tool of terror at home in Iran, its tool of terror in the wider region and its tool of terror around the world, including here in Canada. We know that Canadian citizens and people with close connections to Canada have been killed by the IRGC, most notably when the IRGC shot down flight PS752, murdering dozens of Canadian citizens and many more people with close connections to our country. The IRGC continues to be active, advancing terror around the world. We have seen the images out of Iran of how the IRGC is terrorizing the people of Iran. We also have heard reports of death threats that continue to be made by this organization against Canadians, so Conservatives have a simple proposition in response to this horrific reality, which is that we must do everything we can to shut down the operations of the IRGC here in Canada. That means listing the IRGC as a terrorist organization within the Criminal Code. We have a statute in the Criminal Code that is designed to allow the listing of terrorist organizations so that we can shut down their operations in Canada, prevent them from fundraising, prevent them from recruiting and prevent any member of their organization from being here or operating here freely. I put forward a motion four and a half years ago in this place to list the IRGC as a terrorist organization. We had a day-long debate. We had a vote on it. Every present member of the Liberal caucus actually voted in favour of my motion to list the IRGC. I thought that was great news. We had the two major parties in the House come together, recognizing that the IRGC is a terrorist organization and voting, in an admittedly non-binding motion, to call on the government to list the IRGC as a terrorist organization. It should have been a given, after cabinet ministers voted to list the IRGC as a terrorist organization, that they would have gone ahead and listed it as an organization. In fact, on another issue we had the House unanimously call for the listing of Proud Boys as a terrorist organization, and Proud Boys was listed as a terrorist organization within a couple of months. In this case, it has been four and a half years. The government likes to talk about other things it has done on Iran, but I have been continuously asking the same question over the last four and a half years. The government voted to do this, so why has it not? In four and a half years I have never gotten an answer. If the government has a good reason for not listing the IRGC as a terrorist organization, it should at least provide its answer and make its case, and we would have that debate. However, we have received no response, and sadly I predict we will receive no response tonight, on that basic question. Does the government intend to list the IRGC as a terrorist organization, which is what it voted to do? If not, why not? Other measures were taken previously. The Conservative government listed the Qods Force as a terrorist organization under the Criminal Code, designated Iran as a state sponsor of terror and ended diplomatic relations with Iran. Those policies have continued under the current government, but it has not taken any substantial new steps. The latest we have heard is the Deputy Prime Minister explicitly acknowledging in a statement about a month ago that the IRGC is a terrorist organization, but the government still has not listed it as a terrorist organization in the Criminal Code. Hope springs eternal. I will keep asking the question. Could the government please list this terrorist organization as a terrorist organization in the Criminal Code? If it refuses, could it at least explain why it will not act?

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Mr. Terry Beech (Parliamentary Secretary to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Lib.)

Nov/29/22 7:11:10 p.m.
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Re: Bill S-8

Madam Speaker, I speak today in this House in solidarity with and offering my full support to the brave men and women of Iran who are rising up against this brutal regime. For too long the Ayatollah, the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and the so-called morality police have repressed the Iranian people for their own gain. The brutal killing of Mahsa Amini was a spark in a long history of repression and violence the Iranian authorities have imposed on their own people. Now people from across Iranian society have risen up to demand freedom, justice and accountability. I want to make it clear to Iranian Canadians and Iranians abroad that the people of Canada and the Government of Canada stand with them as they fight back against the shameless disregard for human rights. Our government, along with our international partners, is committed to holding Iran accountable for its actions in accordance with international law. I would like to reiterate the robust measures Canada has imposed against Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, in response to these recent incidents, as well as long-term actions against Iran's systemic human rights violations. Canada has imposed vigorous sanctions against the Iranian regime, the IRGC and their leadership under the Special Economic Measures Act, or SEMA. These sanctions, which explicitly target the IRGC, also target several sub-organizations, including the IRGC air force and the air force missile command directly. This freezes all assets in Canada that belong to listed individuals associated with the Iranian regime, the IRGC and their leadership. Contravention of these provisions can carry heavy criminal penalties. Our government has also listed Iran as a state supporter of terrorism under the State Immunity Act. By doing that, together with the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act, victims of Iran's human rights abuses will be allowed to take the Iranian regime to court for damages relating to terrorism and its support of it. However, this, of course, is not enough. Once Bill S-8, an act to amend the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, becomes law, it will align the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, IRPA, with the Special Economic Measures Act, SEMA, to ensure all foreign nationals subject to sanctions under SEMA will also be inadmissible to Canada. Furthermore, on Friday, October 7, the Prime Minister announced that Canada will work toward pursuing a listing of the Iranian regime, including the IRGC leadership, under the most powerful provision of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. This means that 10,000 officers and senior members of the Iranian regime, including its top leaders, will be permanently inadmissible to Canada. We are doing this in a targeted way, making sure to punish those who are involved in these activities while ensuring we do not negatively impact those Canadians, our neighbours, who may have been forcibly conscripted into the organization a long time ago, despite having no affiliation with the regime today. Working with the international community, moreover, the UN Security Council has now passed a number of resolutions to impose sanctions on Iran, which come into effect under Canadian law through the United Nations Act. I will end as I started by letting all Canadians know, especially our Iranian Canadian community here at home, that we will not waver in our commitment to keep Canadians safe, countering terrorist threats in Canada and around the world and holding the Iranian regime accountable for its heinous crimes, human rights violations that are oppressing the freedom-loving people of Iran. We remain unwavering in our commitment to keep Canadians safe, including by taking all appropriate action to counter terrorist threats both in Canada and right around the world.

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Mr. Garnett Genuis

Nov/29/22 7:14:54 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, that response in this whole situation is a sad demonstration of the farce that is the government's approach to human rights. We have a parliamentary secretary reading out his lines that, yes, the government stands with the people of Iran, that it wants them to know it stands with them, but, substantively, the government refuses to do the core thing that the Iranian community is asking, which is to shut down the operations of the IRGC here in Canada. I note as well that the person answering the question is the parliamentary secretary for finance. This is not even his file. The government representatives for public safety and foreign affairs could not even be bothered to answer the question. I have some sympathy for the parliamentary secretary. He has been asked, as the parliamentary secretary for finance, to read out a response that has nothing to do with the files that he is working on. That tells us how seriously the government takes the need to list the IRGC as a terrorist organization. If the issue is concern about forcible conscription—

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

Nov/29/22 7:15:58 p.m.
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The hon. parliamentary secretary.

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Secretary

Mr. Terry Beech

Nov/29/22 7:16:02 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I am happy to be here talking about this issue today. It follows up dozens of meetings I have had with Iranian Canadians in my own community and I have been following this particular issue especially closely. Listings under the Criminal Code provide the legal and institutional framework to implement measures to freeze and forfeit terrorists' property and help investigate and potentially persecute someone for certain offences. Listing under the Criminal Code is just one instrument in Canada's international domestic counterterrorism strategy tool box in ensuring the safety of Canadians and holding the Iranian regime accountable. Canadians can have confidence in the continuing efforts of the Government of Canada to hold the Iranian regime, the IRGC and their leadership accountable for their actions. The Iranian people have bravely stood up against the brutal dictatorship with a simple message that has resonated around the world: women, life, freedom. To the women and men of Iran demanding their rights and freedoms, we see them, stand with them and will continue to take action.

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The Assistant Deputy Speaker (Mrs. Alexandra Mendès)

Nov/29/22 7:17:03 p.m.
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The motion to adjourn the House is deemed to have been adopted. Accordingly, the House stands adjourned until tomorrow at 2 p.m. pursuant to Standing Order 24(1). (The House adjourned at 7:17 p.m.)

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Mrs. Cheryl Gallant (Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, CPC)

Nov/29/22 6:50:13 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, on behalf of the overtaxed residents of Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, I asked this government if Canadians could expect any tax relief. Taxes on fertilizer and fuel are making food more expensive. The government's plan to enact the biggest excise tax in Canadian history will punish the hospitality sector before it has had a chance to recover from the government lockdowns. Seniors are asking how they are going to be able to afford to heat their homes this winter, and what was the government's response? The member for Winnipeg South stood in the House and questioned why Conservatives had not spent taxpayer dollars to fly on a junket to a luxury resort town in Egypt. Canadians are worried about freezing in their homes, and the government complains that Conservatives are not enjoying Egyptian beaches. In case there was any confusion about how the Liberals really feel about the great white north, just look at the Minister of Labour. Last week he said he was sick and tired of people complaining about the cold winter. It is almost as though the Liberal caucus has a bet to see who can be the most arrogant and dismissive of Canadians. It is obvious from their responses in question period that the Liberals would rather be sitting on a sunny beach, sipping margaritas and mai tais. It is ironic that the member for Winnipeg South would talk about the COP27 meeting instead of taxes, unless it is an admission that COP27 is all about ways to crank out new taxes. Less than a month ago, during these same adjournment proceedings, I asked the Liberals how many envirocrats and climate groupies would be going to COP27. Did they answer? Of course they did not. They never answer the question. We ask now how many people they sent to COP27, and they answer that zero Conservatives attended. They attack us for not attending, yet refuse to answer how many Liberals attended. COP27 is just a distraction from the carbon tax being imposed on Atlantic Canada. The Liberals' new fuel standards regulations clearly state that the cost will be borne disproportionately by rural Atlantic Canadians, yet Liberals claim that nobody uses home heating oil any more. The Liberals are clearly gaslighting Atlantic Canadians, then charging them a carbon tax on that same gas. Before any of the Liberals get up to spread more misinformation, I challenge them to read their own regulatory analysis. This is not Conservatives saying it, and it is not the Parliamentary Budget Officer. These are the Liberal government's own words. It said: It is estimated that provinces in Atlantic Canada would be more negatively affected by the proposed Regulations. This is largely because the Atlantic provinces use more [light fuel oil] for home heating than other provinces. It later said: This may be most acute for seniors living in the Atlantic provinces, where they account for a higher share of the total population compared to other Canadian provinces and are also more likely to experience some of the highest energy expenditures in Canada proportional to income. The carbon tax is bad for everyone, but it is worse for Canadians in rural and remote communities. It is worse for Canadians on fixed incomes. For seniors living on fixed incomes in rural and remote communities, it could very well mean the end. Faced with a choice between heating and eating, at least rural Canadians had the option of hunting. Now this socialist government and its urban, vegan, elite base of voters want to take that away too. The government has been clear. It does not care about the costs it imposes on Canadians, and it is tired of hearing people complain about it. Will the parliamentary secretary disavow the Minister of Labour's statement, or is he also tired of Canadians complaining about being left out in the cold?

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Mr. Rhéal Fortin (Rivière-du-Nord, BQ)

Nov/29/22 2:59:54 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is precisely the precedent that the father of the Emergencies Act, former minister Perrin Beatty, was concerned about. When he appeared before the committee, he said that once the act has been used for the first time, the temptation will be to use it for other crises. He recalled that he had consciously included the specific criteria that must be met in order to counteract the arbitrariness and abuses that the old War Measures Act allowed for. The Liberals flouted these criteria when they invoked the act. Can the minister tell us what will prevent any future governments from using it arbitrarily to suspend individual freedoms?

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