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Decentralized Democracy

House Hansard - 299

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
April 15, 2024 11:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 299 - Apr/15/24
Mr. Patrick Weiler (West Vancouver—Sunshine Coast—Sea to Sky Country, Lib.)
  • Apr/15/24 5:36:50 p.m.
  • Watch
  • 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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