44th Parl. 1st Sess.
November 29, 2022 10:00AM
- 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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- 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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- 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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