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House Hansard - 121

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
October 31, 2022 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 121 - Oct/31/22
Mr. Garnett Genuis (Sherwood Park—Fort Saskatchewan, CPC)
  • Oct/31/22 6:53:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the people of Iran are at a critical point in their history. The protest movement in Iran, aimed at ousting the radical dangerous regime, has an incredible amount of momentum right now. I salute the courage and the heroism of the people involved in this movement. At the same time, the horrors of this regime have been going on for decades. There have been various protest movements over the years where the Iranian people have stepped out to fight for freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Sadly, in the past these protests have not succeeded in achieving their fundamental objectives, but I am hopeful and optimistic that this movement seeking fundamental political change will succeed. The fact that this repression, and the response from the people, had been going on for a number of years, led to the proposition of a motion in the House, which I put forward four years ago, to list the IRGC as a terrorist entity within the Criminal Code. That was back in 2018. Now, on that motion to list the IRGC as a terrorist entity, the Prime Minister, the cabinet and the entire Liberal caucus voted in favour of that motion to immediately list the IRGC as a terrorist entity. In the intervening four years, not only did the government not list the IRGC, but we also saw no application of sanctions. We saw no action whatsoever. Up until recently, there was not a single official associated with the Iranian regime that even had Magnitsky sanctions applied. We periodically ask the government why. What is the plan? Why has it not listed the IRGC? Why are there no Magnitsky sanctions? Why has it not taken the steps that are vitally required? Most recently, we had the murder of Mahsa Amini, which grabbed the public's attention around the world. The result of that was significant political pressure on the government, with tens of thousands of people rallying. These events were largely ignored by the government, but the political pressure mounted. Then it wanted to look like it was doing something, so now we see this effort by the government to wrap itself in the image of this movement. The Prime Minister himself attended an event this weekend. I think protesters wanted to see what the government was going to do to take action. The Prime Minister will still not list the IRGC, so great, he showed up at an event weeks after the fact. What I want to know from the government is, aside from the photo ops, aside from the lobbed questions, where is the substance? Why did it take so long for the government to do anything? Moreover, when will it actually list the IRGC as a terrorist organization? It is bizarre to me. We had the Deputy Prime Minister make an announcement to say that the government recognized that the IRGC is a terrorist organization, so it would list it as a terrorist organization in the Immigration Act, instead of listing it in the Criminal Code. If the Deputy Prime Minister acknowledges that the IRGC is a terrorist organization, then why can we not list it as a terrorist organization in the Criminal Code? All I can conclude from this is that the government wants to intentionally create some ambiguity. It says that it is listing the IRGC in the Immigration Act, instead of listing it as a terrorist organization in the Criminal Code, which is precisely what the Liberals voted to do four years ago, yet they have failed to act on that. Is the government going to list the IRGC as a terrorist organization? Can we get a clear answer? If it acknowledges that it is a terrorist organization but refuses to list it, could the government finally explain to us why. What is its position on listing the IRGC as a terrorist organization, and why?
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