44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 15, 2024 11:00AM
- Apr/15/24 3:36:56 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the Iranian regime is despotic, and we have seen repeated human right violations. We have seen a regime that has undermined human rights and has undermined countries in the region repeatedly. There is no democratic ability for folks to speak out. In fact, the killing of political prisoners and the widespread use of torture is something that is a hallmark of this despotic regime.
There was discussion at committee, as the member points out, and I want him to talk about the positions of the various parties around the table. The NDP, of course, has been very supportive of listing the IRGC as a terrorist organization. We believe this should have happened, but it has not yet. What were the positions of the parties around the table when this report was produced?
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- Apr/15/24 3:39:08 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to thank the hon. member for bringing this urgent matter to the attention of the House.
It has been six years. The House passed the resolution, and yet the government has not acted. We have seen, over the years, the level of threats and intimidation that has gone on within the Iranian community because of the IRGC. Can the hon. member tell the House why he thinks the government is failing to act on designating the IRGC as a terrorist organization?
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- Apr/15/24 3:50:31 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, the Iranian regime has brought untold harm onto its own citizens and has caused chaos throughout the region and the world. There is no argument from me on that.
The United States has listed the IRGC as a terrorist entity, but doing so has actually had a profound effect on a number of Canadians. There are about 30,000 Canadians in Canada who were conscripted to be part of the IRGC. Through no fault of their own, they are not able to travel to the U.S. for vacations or for work opportunities. It includes their spouses and their children as well. This is already having a profound impact. I actually had an email today from a constituent who was asking about this.
How would my hon. colleague go about ensuring that, by listing the IRGC as a terrorist entity, it would not bring these types of issues onto our citizens? How might that be approached?
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- Apr/15/24 4:20:34 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I have an incredible community of Iranian Canadians in Nanaimo—Ladysmith, so I want to first acknowledge all of those in my community. I think of Shirin, particularly, who is the owner of The Bees Knees in Nanaimo, who contributes in so many ways.
My question for the member is specifically around the point of designating the IRGC as a terrorist entity now. Many Iranian Canadians are speaking to me about the importance of holding to account those who are participating in human rights violations and committing terrorism, and of moving this forward.
Can the member also share his thoughts around the importance of, while holding terrorism to account, also considering those who are conscripted into the IRGC and how that plays into the decisions being made, moving forward, so that those who are forced into the IRGC are not being held to the same degree of responsibility as those who are voluntarily participating in terrorism?
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- Apr/15/24 4:26:46 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Saint-Jean.
Like many other matters that are brought before the House, what our Conservative colleagues are proposing today is something that I think is very important. It will certainly have serious consequences. We know that inclusion on the list of terrorist organizations means that Iranian citizens and members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps will no longer be allowed on Canadian soil. However, even if we think that perpetrators of terrorism must be prohibited from staying in the country or must at least be controlled, imprisoned or properly sanctioned, the fact remains that, according to the statistics that we have, 50% or more of IRGC soldiers are likely honest citizens who have been conscripted or forced to serve in the military. As a result, the decision that we are about to make could have a major impact on Iranians, regardless of whether people are guilty of any kind of terrorist, criminal or other act.
That said, even if we do not have the expertise or enough of the full story to make such a important decision, the fact remains that the world is changing and we are looking at a major situation to which Canada must respond. We know that in the late 1950s, Iran even developed a civil nuclear program with the help of the United States. At that time, the Iranian state was seen as an ally or friendly to the west. Things changed over time. In 1979, the infamous Islamic revolution happened, and that led to a radical change in the way Iranians live and in their position on western society. We had to consider that. Members will recall that in January 2002, in the wake of the attacks on the United States, President George W. Bush declared the existence of what was known at the time as the axis of evil, which included Iran. So there was a change. Although in the 1950s Iran was an ally, a friendly country, things changed in 1979 with the Islamic revolution. I will refrain from calling it an enemy, but at the turn of the century, Iran became hostile to the west. The situation is deteriorating as the years go by.
That bring us to this weekend, with the notorious drone and ballistic missile attacks. We understand, or at least wonder about Iran's real intentions. Apparently, these missiles were largely destroyed at or near take-off. It was not as devastating an attack as some might have feared but, nevertheless, Iran launched an attack and, as we know, it is working on nuclear energies. Agreements have been signed. We know that there are no nuclear weapons in Iran, and Iran's nuclear power was regulated in 2015 or thereabouts. However, there are still questions. Hostile intentions are being demonstrated by a state that is a serious threat to Canada's allies in Europe and, in many ways, Canada itself.
What happens next? I admit that it is not an easy choice, but I do not think we can just stand by. We have to react. As we know, the United States has taken steps to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization.
We know that the European Union and other countries are seriously considering this option at the moment. I think we also need to give the matter careful thought and possibly impose such sanctions. They would have to be administered very carefully, tactfully and sparingly. I trust the Canadian government to administer the situation wisely and appropriately, but I think something has to be done. We do not have time to spend a year or two considering the matter. We have to act now.
I introduced a bill on that before. The Bloc Québécois has repeatedly argued for the creation of an organized crime registry in Canada. We based our work in that regard on the registry of terrorist organizations. Our belief in the usefulness of such a registry is therefore sincere. I believe it would be even more useful for organized crime. In time, I hope to bring my friends in the Conservative Party, the Liberal Party and possibly in the NDP and the Green Party, and everyone in the House, around to the idea, so that we end up with what I think would be a highly appropriate tool for fighting terrorist organizations, a tool that should also allow us to fight organized crime effectively. It is important to remember that organized crime causes a lot more harm in Canada than terrorist organizations. Organized crime jeopardizes the quality of life and peace of mind of Quebeckers and Canadians on a daily basis. I believed in a registry for organized crime, and the registry of terrorist organizations was the model I used. I still believe in it.
Given that we believe in the usefulness of a registry and we think that Iran has gone down a dangerous path that could, in the short or medium term, cause major harm to Canada and, in any case, is already causing serious harm to citizens around the world, I believe that Canada should set an example. The Government of Canada needs to deal with this issue right now. In that sense, I think our Conservative colleagues are right to ask us to take a stand on this matter.
I will stop there. I thank my colleagues for their attention.
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- Apr/15/24 4:34:49 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I want to make a comment and ask the member a question. The first line of the report calls on the government to designate the group, called Sepâh-e Pâsdârân in Farsi, as a terrorist group. We have been trying to convince the government for six years now to designate it as a terrorist group under the Criminal Code.
Some members have asked the question about the people who have been forced to do their military service with this terrorist group. In fact, all those who work for the Quds Force are volunteers. They are soldiers who work for the Government of Tehran. It is a terrorist group that killed Kian Pirfalak, who was nine years old. Those people killed Mahsa Amini. They killed Nika Shahkarami, Sarina Esmailzadeh and Armita Garavand. Thousands of people have been sent to Iranian prisons just for defending their democratic and human rights.
Why does my colleague think that the government has been refusing for six years to add this group to our terrorist list in our Criminal Code so that its hundreds of agents, who are here in this country, can face justice?
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- Apr/15/24 4:38:38 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I think my colleague is right about violence against women in Iran. We all know that. We see it all the time. My other colleague was also right earlier about violence against young people, even children.
We know that these organizations are recruiting children to commit violent acts that would be completely prohibited and generally disapproved of if they happened in Canada. We have seen movies about what Iranian society was like before the Islamic revolution. We saw women who did not wear the veil and who had a life similar to that of men, that is to say they went to university and they were able to work and drive. However, since the Islamic revolution, there has been a tendency to prevent women from thriving in Iran. Not only is it appalling, but, in my opinion, it almost amounts to a crime against humanity, just like what they do to children.
Either way, we really need to crack down and take a serious look at this right away.
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- Apr/15/24 5:21:00 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I look forward to participating in this debate this evening.
I want to just say very quickly that I do not think a concurrence debate is the appropriate place for this debate to be happening. As I mentioned earlier tonight, I moved, over a year ago, a motion at the foreign affairs committee to look at this exact issue. In fact, in just a number of weeks we will be undertaking that study within the foreign affairs committee to look at this in a fulsome way and have an opportunity to hear from experts, hear from witnesses and hear from Iranian Canadians who have been impacted in our communities across this country.
Today, I want to start by telling a bit of a story. When I was elected in 2019, we were all sworn in in November. We had very little time in December before the House rose. I went home for Christmas holidays, like all of my colleagues did. Then, on January 8, 2020, flight PS752 was shot out of the sky by the terrorist regime in Iran. There were 176 innocent people on that flight. Fifty-five of them were Canadian. We had 30 permanent residents. Many of those individuals were from Edmonton, and particularly from Edmonton Strathcona. The University of Alberta was deeply impacted. It was the first event as a parliamentarian that I needed to deal with. I cannot say how difficult it was and how much grief my community felt.
The difficulty I had while sitting in the university's biggest auditorium for the memorial service that we held for the victims from Edmonton made that probably one of the hardest days I have ever spent. I sat with members from all parties for that memorial. I cried with Liberal members and I cried with Conservative members because it was such a devastating day for our community and it continues to be. I gather with the Iranian Edmonton community every year to mark that terrible day and to remember the beautiful souls who we lost that day.
In addition, it has been one and a half years since the horrific killing of 22-year-old Mahsa Zhina Amini and since the start of the “women, life, freedom” uprising in Iran. Over the past year and a half, we have been witness to the immense bravery of Iranian women, who are fighting for their rights, for their human rights and for Iranians around the world who have raised their voices, and their allies who have marched with them in the streets and who have raised their voices for the people of Iran, so that Iranians do not have to live under the tyranny of the terrorist organization that is the IRGC.
We are very clear that this is something that Canada must and can do more for. We have condemned, as New Democrats, the brutality against the Iranian people, including the hundreds of unlawful killings and executions, the tens of thousands of arbitrary arrests, widespread torture, including rape of detainees, and attacks on women and girls who defy the discriminatory compulsory veiling laws. In fact, as a country with a feminist foreign policy, we must do everything we can. I have talked about that policy often. We have never seen it, but we have been told that it exists.
I was so pleased last spring. I had put my name forward to sponsor a political prisoner in Iran. One of my dear friends from Edmonton, Mohammed, came to me. He asked if I would be willing to sponsor this Iranian prisoner, Armita Abbasi, a young, beautiful, vibrant woman who was in detention and had been tortured simply because she was trying to stand up for her own rights. I was delighted to be able to sponsor her. Imagine how happy I was when she was released from prison, when she was given back her freedom and was able to escape from the terrorists, the IRGC.
We need to make changes to the Canadian foreign policy. I will admit that it should have happened years ago and it is appalling that it has taken so long for the government to take action, particularly after PS752 and after the “women, life, freedom” movement began.
I will say we cannot make foreign policy based on concurrence debates. We need to do the work. That is part of what we do as parliamentarians. We need to look at this issue. We need to bring experts in. We need to examine it. We need to make sure we are making the right decision, because the worst thing we could do is make innocent people be punished by their own government, the IRGC, and then punished again if we are not careful in how we make sure those conscripted people are protected.
We, of course, want to see the IRGC, especially its leadership, declared as terrorists. We have been calling for it for some time, but we need to do the work. We need to do foreign policy carefully and thoughtfully, and make sure that no innocent people are caught up in the terrible things that have been done by the IRGC. There needs to be a robust commitment from the Canadian government to act on this, but it needs to be done thoughtfully and it needs to be done with the urgency this requires.
In remembrance of Mahsa Zhina Amini, of the countless innocent lives that have been taken and of those in prison, New Democrats express our profound solidarity and support for the Iranian people. I think we can all say that the events of the last several weeks have highlighted that we are at a dangerous moment in time in the Middle East. Certainly, we must impose stronger sanctions on the IRGC and Iranian regime. We must end Iran's support for terrorism in the region.
Time and time again, I have stood in this place and said that Hamas is a terrorist organization. That is very clear. Hansard is extraordinarily clear on this. Just like I have said, time and time again, that Canada has an obligation to adhere to international law. We also have an obligation as Canadians, and people expect us as Canadians, to do what we can to de-escalate war and to protect civilians and children. That is what people in our communities want from us. That is what our foreign policy should be doing.
What we are seeing in the Middle East right now is horrifying. There are more than 13,000 children who have lost their lives. We have to continue to call for a ceasefire. We have to continue to put pressure on all actors in the region, including Israel, to de-escalate tensions at a time when civilians are the ones paying the price. Let us be clear: The escalation of tensions in the Middle East will do nothing but cause increased pain for those who are most vulnerable right now.
Again, I would urge the government to come to the foreign affairs committee and the opposition parties to come to the foreign affairs committee. Let us sit down and do this important work. It has been over a year since my motion calling for the examination of Canada's, the Canadian government's, refusal for the listing of the IRGC as a terrorist entity; of the connections between people or assets in Canada and the IRGC; and of paths forward to support Iranian human rights activists, artists, journalists and other political refugees. The motion asked that the committee invite the Minister of Foreign Affairs to testify, as well as additional witnesses submitted by members of the committee, and that the committee report its findings back to the House.
This is important work. Canada has an important role to play. Historically, we have been able to play that role and we have been missing in action. Iranian Canadians expect this from us. Iranian people around the world expect this from us. There is more that we can do. This is not the opportunity for that, but we will look at this in the foreign affairs committee and we will expect our government to act.
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- Apr/15/24 5:31:13 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank the member opposite for her work on this file, as well as on many other issues that we both work on and agree on.
I had a volunteer who worked for me, named Arad Zarei. He was killed on that flight. At the remembrance for the victims of flight PS752, the Prime Minister was in our riding and reiterated our commitment to a responsible listing of the IRGC. We have also put very extensive measures in place under SEMA and IRPA.
I am just wondering if the member opposite would comment on how she feels the real issues facing the Iranian diaspora in Canada could be addressed while putting in place some of these measures.
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- Apr/15/24 5:32:14 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague as well. We have worked very closely on issues around helping people in other parts of the world, and I appreciate her work.
One of the things that I have heard from many members in my community and from the Iranian Canadian community around the country, is that they do not feel heard by the government. They do not feel that the government has listened to them and acted with urgency. After flight PS752, they wanted an independent investigation. They wanted more to be done, and we did not see that action from the government.
In terms even of listing the IRGC, of course we support this motion. We will support this. This is important work. What we are not seeing is that communities feel that their concerns about foreign interference and about interference within their communities are being heard. Even when we look at the potential for sports teams to come here, for people to be in our community who are clearly bad actors that the government knows about, there is very little action.
We need the community to feel like the government is listening and acting on their needs.
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- Apr/15/24 5:36:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I believe that question referred predominantly to the issue of allowing people to come here for their safety.
The one thing I will say is that it is extraordinarily complicated, because we do not have a diplomatic presence in Iran. That does make it very difficult. We do want to be thoughtful and make sure that those bad actors are also not able to come to Canada. The delays that Iranian citizens face are unbelievable, and we really need to come up with a better path so that people can come, so that they can work here, and so that they can come here for safety, for studying and to contribute so much to our communities.
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- Apr/15/24 5:36:50 p.m.
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- Re: Bill S-8
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to join this debate, but before going any further, I want to mention that I will be sharing my time with my colleague from the Standing Committee on Finance, the member for Charleswood—St. James—Assiniboia—Headingley.
As this motion points out, recent events have brought renewed focus on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or the IRGC. Canada strongly condemns the blatant disregard for human rights and human life shown by the IRGC in recent acts against Iranians. We continue to listen to and join our voices with those who are demanding better in Iran.
Here in Canada, we are continuing to take decisive action against this regime. On November 14, 2022, the Government of Canada announced the designation of Iran as a regime that has engaged in terrorism and systemic and gross human rights violations under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
As a result, senior officials of the regime are now permanently inadmissible to Canada. This includes tens of thousands of Iranians, such as the head of state, senior IRGC members, intelligence operatives, senior government officials, diplomats and judges. The government also announced significantly expanded sanctions against those responsible for the Iranian regime's egregious human rights violations.
Those new sanctions would build on our existing sanctions. All told, these measures amount to the most robust and comprehensive set of sanctions in the world against Iran and the IRGC.
I would also like to point out that the Government of Canada announced its intention to pursue legislation intended to ensure that no sanctioned individual connected to the IRGC can enter Canada.
Thanks to the passage of Bill S-8, the law now aligns the IRPA with the Special Economic Measures Act to ensure that all foreign nationals subject to sanctions under SEMA will also be inadmissible to Canada. This designation means thousands of members of the regime, including many members of the IRGC, intelligence operatives, government officials and judges, among others, are now inadmissible in Canada.
The government also announced it would invest $76 million to strengthen Canada's capacity to implement sanctions and to ensure we can move more quickly to freeze and seize sanctioned individuals' assets. This includes a dedicated bureau at Global Affairs Canada. It also includes additional support to the RCMP to investigate and identify assets and gather evidence, building on authorities announced in budget 2022. It is a suite of measures that will help hold the Iranian regime to account for its egregious actions, and we are going to continue to pursue all the tools at our disposal.
I will highlight that we already have a strong foundation. That is a result of our previous actions, which were already some of the strongest in the world. They include designating the state of Iran as a state supporter of terrorism under Canada's State Immunity Act, and this allows civil actions to be taken against it under the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act.
We also announced additional sanctions against senior Iranian officials and prominent entities who directly implement repressive measures, violate human rights and spread the Iranian regime's propaganda. These sanctions effectively froze any assets these individuals may hold in Canada.
As I note, Canada continues to have in place a series of strong measures to hold both Iran and the IRGC accountable. In November 2022, the then minister of public safety implemented the designation of the Iranian regime, pursuant to paragraph 35(1)(b) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. This renders all senior officials in the service of the Iranian regime inadmissible to Canada from November 15, 2019, onward. This designation also acts as a prevention tool, as it ensures that prescribed senior officials will not be granted a Canadian visa in the first place. The fact that the regime has been designated also serves to discourage Iranian senior officials from attempting to travel to Canada.
Under this designation, as of November 20, 2023, approximately 17,800 visa applications had been reviewed for potential inadmissibility, and 78 individuals had been denied access to Canada. Dozens of Iranian regime officials have been denied entry to Canada, and Canada has deported several former Iranian officials, including Majid Iranmanesh, who is the first to face deportation under sanctions adopted in November 2022.
Further, based on referrals from IRCC and tips from the public, 141 cases are now being investigated by the CBSA and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. So far, 38 investigations were closed by the CBSA for individuals who were either out of the country or deemed not inadmissible to Canada.
In June 2019, Canada added three new Iran-backed groups to the terrorist list under the Criminal Code, including the Fatemiyoun Division, known to recruit soldiers from Afghanistan. Iran has provided these groups with substantial resources, including training and weapons to carry out terrorist acts that advance its goals in the region. Canada continues to list the IRGC Quds Force and a number of terrorist entities that have benefited from the force's patronage, including arms, funding and paramilitary training, and that help advance Iran's interests and foreign policy. These include Hezbollah, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Taliban.
As the motion before us today suggests, the listing regime is one important tool for countering terrorism in Canada and globally and is part of the government's commitment to keeping Canadians safe. The listing process is ongoing and vigorous, but it is of course just one of our many tools. We need to stay adaptable and change with the times. Global instability and the rapid changes we are seeing demonstrate, again and again, how we need to work every day to retain the democratic values we cherish.
Our collective efforts to counter terrorism reflect the fact that we must think and co-operate globally. For Canada, for example, one of the main terrorist threats stems from violent extremists inspired by terrorist groups. We must continue to take seriously the threat of those espousing extremist views who may be travelling or returning to our countries. Canada has a robust approach in place to address this issue as well. In fact, it is a Criminal Code offence for any Canadian citizen or permanent resident to travel abroad to support or engage in a terrorist activity or the activities of a terrorist group. Law enforcement conducts criminal investigations to the fullest extent they are able, with a view to supporting criminal charges and prosecutions of Canadian extremist travellers and returnees.
When charges cannot be laid, a number of other tools are considered, including surveillance and monitoring; terrorism peace bonds; no-fly listings; refusals, cancellations or revocations of passports; and other threat reduction measures. Canadians who involve themselves in terrorism and violent extremism can expect to be investigated, arrested, charged and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. That is the government's prime objective and priority.
As with many other security issues, we continue our multilateral partnerships to improve coordination, information flow and capacity building. Our principles in countering terrorism affirm Canada's democratic values. They provide a clear articulation of how Canada conducts its work. Colleagues can be assured that Canada is looking at all possible options to constrain the activities of Iran that threaten national security.
From an operational perspective, the RCMP has investigated numerous areas in relation to Iran pertaining to its federally mandated activities. These include national security, transnational organized crime, money laundering, sanctions violations, threats of harm to individuals in Canada or elsewhere, instances of transnational repression and other national security offences.
This is a time of tension and uncertainty, but Canadians can rest assured their government is working for them on all fronts. As my colleagues will point to, we are actively getting funding to communities through programs like the security infrastructure program, funding mechanisms like the community resilience fund and anti-hate initiatives across the government.
I am sure they will also highlight that the Minister of Public Safety is committed to continuing to engage communities directly. He met with federal, provincial and territorial leaders to discuss this urgent matter. He has met with universities to discuss needs on campus as well. He met recently with the cross-cultural round table on security, or CCRS. The CCRS an important mechanism for the minister to hear directly from diverse community members on the topics concerning their safety. Tensions in the Middle East, along with their impacts on our communities, were a key topic of discussion.
In sum, there is a remarkable amount of work being done across government to counter acts and words of hate and violence, and we need to continue to do more.
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Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague for Calgary Shepard for the very good question on this; it is a really important part of this discussion.
We are talking about listing the IRGC as a terrorist organization under the Criminal Code. However, we need to think of the 30,000 Canadians and their families who were conscripted to be part of the IRGC, because there is a very significant impact that the American listing is already having on them. I was recently reading through Bill C-350, which includes that exemption. I wonder if that would be better placed in the Criminal Code rather than in IRPA and what that would mean.
This is certainly an issue that requires a lot more investigation. I know that a study has been proposed in the foreign affairs committee, which might be an appropriate place to have that type of discussion. However, it is incredibly important that we think of the impact it will have on Canadians as part of an overall suite of how we hold the Iranian regime accountable for its actions.
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- Apr/15/24 5:48:33 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, it is not easy for Canada to have any credibility on the international stage when it comes to security. A major player in the government told us that “Canada is back”, but it is definitely not. Canada was eyeing a seat on the United Nations Security Council, but it lost the bid. When it comes to security, Canada has had problems, especially with the Winnipeg lab, a maximum-security facility.
When it comes to security, this report talks about recognizing a terrorist group and putting it on the list of terrorist entities, a targeted list, so that the group is identified by the government and its security agencies.
I would like my colleague to talk about sanctions. The government, along with other G7 countries, seems inclined to impose sanctions on the Iranian regime and the current Iranian government. The government is already having difficulty targeting, analyzing and monitoring the sanctions against Russia. I cannot see how it will manage to do the same for Iran.
I would like my colleague to enlighten me and to explain in practical terms how his government is trying to resolve the situation and act in an effective, meaningful way.
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- Apr/15/24 5:51:50 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, that is the appropriate forum to investigate this issue more fulsomely and to look at all the tools that we can utilize to protect Iranian Canadians and to hold the regime accountable. Likewise, I think it is difficult to do that in this setting, because we are talking about things that will likely require changing legislation.
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- Apr/15/24 6:07:59 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I am rising to support concurrence of the 21st report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, a report that touches on the human rights abuses in the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is a report that draws attention of these abuses to the government in the hope that the government would act. We are having this debate here in the House on this very issue in the aftermath of the Iranian regime's attack on the State of Israel this past weekend.
I think it is a timely debate for us to have. I hope members of the House will support concurrence of this report. It also allows us to draw attention to the gross human rights abuses and the violations of international law that the Iranian regime has been perpetrating in recent years. In particular, we need to draw attention to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which is a key part of the state apparatus of the leaders in Tehran. It permeates its security apparatus internally in Iran and its military. It is an entity that we believe should be listed as a terrorist entity under the Criminal Code of Canada.
Six years ago, in June 2018, the House adopted a motion calling on the Government of Canada to immediately list the IRGC as a terrorist entity. It has been six long years since the House adopted that motion, since members of the ministry of the government, including the Prime Minister, voted for that motion. However, here we are, six years later, and in the intervening years, the IRGC has continued to promulgate its ruthless and vicious campaign persecuting Iranians in Iran, including people such Nasrin Sotoudeh, an esteemed human rights advocate in Iran, and its campaign of destabilizing the region by attacking liberal democracies, such as the State of Israel. It also continues to attack Canadian interests here at home.
It was in January 2020, some four years ago, when the IRGC fired a missile at Ukrainian International Airlines flight 752, which killed dozens and dozens of Canadian citizens. Those families continue to mourn the loss of their loved ones to this day. They were people who held such promise in their future contributions to this country, whose lives will never be known and who will never be able to make a contribution to this country.
We have had these things happen over the last six years, yet the government continues to stubbornly refuse to take the leadership to list the organization as a terrorist entity under the Criminal Code, despite the fact that the Prime Minister himself has called the IRGC a terrorist organization. Despite the fact that the government has labelled it as such, it still refuses to take the ministerial authority they are entrusted with under the Criminal Code to list the entity as a terrorist entity under the Criminal Code.
The reason this is so very important is that it would allow FINTRAC and our other investigative bodies, such as the RCMP, our provincial police forces of jurisdiction, our CSIS intelligence analysts and operatives, who all work so hard to keep our country safe each and every day, to have another tool to prosecute the flows of money that are so often associated with the threats the IRGC presents, both to the people of Iran in that region and to Canadians here at home.
Iran is subject to vast sanctions regimes. That makes it very difficult for the Islamic Republic of Iran to get the cash it needs to operate. The flows of money that so often accompany the threats that we see, both here and in the region, are essential in cutting off the ability of the IRGC to function.
However, our security forces here in Canada, our intelligence agencies here in Canada and our police forces of jurisdiction have one hand tied behind their backs because they are not allowed to go after people in Canada who are helping the IRGC with flows of money, whether it is helping them clandestinely sell oil on the black market to fund the projects they want to fund or whether it is going to proxy agents of the IRGC who are operating here on Canadian soil and threatening Canadian citizens, doing so with resources they have clandestinely been provided with.
These are the reasons we need to list the IRGC as a terrorist entity. We are calling on the government to do exactly that in the context of the shooting down of Ukrainian International Airlines flight 752, in the context of the attack this past weekend by the IRGC on the State of Israel and in light of its gross human rights abuses and imprisonment of people such as Nasrin Sotoudeh and so many other people in Iran.
We have a government that says it supports the motion that was adopted in the House some six years ago, a government that calls the IRGC a terrorist entity, and a government that still refuses to list the entity as a terrorist organization under the Criminal Code of Canada.
In response to the government's reasons for not listing the IRGC, which is that it is worried about capturing innocent individuals who are compelled to join the IRGC while they are in Iran, its members forget the fact that there is prosecutorial discretion here in Canada. Crown prosecutors have the discretion about whether or not to pursue charges under a terrorist entity listing under the Criminal Code of Canada. Their explanations for why they continue to refuse to list this entity does not make any sense, and we are calling on them to support this concurrence motion and list the IRGC as a terrorist entity.
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