Hon. Leo Housakos: Senator Gold, it has now been five years since the House of Commons passed the motion — and earlier this year, this chamber did the same — calling upon your Liberal government to list the IRGC — the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — as a terrorist group. At the time, Senator Omidvar stated that the crimes of the Islamic regime and the IRGC go beyond the borders of Iran. Senator Omidvar cited the support that the IRGC provides Hamas in significantly destabilizing the region, which was reflected in those barbaric acts we saw on October 7 against men, women and children.

Senator Gold, given the horrific scenes from that day and Hamas’s ability to never run out of rockets, fuel or tunnels in which they’re able to hide, what will it take for your government to list the IRGC as a terrorist group and to stop funding Hamas in their attempt to destroy the State of Israel and murder the Jewish people?

Senator Housakos: Government leader, this story was broadcast on the CBC. Your government should be aware. This is not the first time I have raised these questions on this chamber floor. We now know it’s been a number of months that the Chinese Beijing regime is operating police stations illegally on our territory. We now have concrete examples of individuals connected to the ayatollah and to the terrorist regime in Iran who are using Canada as a headquarters for them to do business.

Before Christmas, I asked you a question about a Russian oligarch connected to President Putin who is mining and doing business and extracting resources in Quebec — all of this without the Trudeau government taking any steps. And excuse me, but there have not been Magnitsky sanctions in any one of these instances that I have asked about. Now, government leader, is this Prime Minister Trudeau’s way of attracting more foreign investment into our country?

Hon. Leo Housakos: My question is for the government leader, and it has to do with a news story yesterday from the Trudeau government’s preferred broadcasting news outlet, the CBC, where they identified three Canadians of Iranian descent operating right here in this country who are wanted by the FBI for money laundering on behalf of the IRGC and the regime — millions and millions of dollars. They are masquerading around in Toronto as real estate brokers, mortgage brokers and investors.

We have seen the Trudeau government refuse to move on the foreign influence registry and accountability act by keeping it on ice right in this chamber. We have seen the Trudeau government refuse to use Magnitsky sanctions against many agents who are connected to oligarchs and dictatorships, and we see the Trudeau government refusing to list the IRGC.

Are you going to take action once and for all and not allow the agents of these regimes come into our country and use Canada as an ATM machine?

Senator Housakos: Senator Gold, with all due respect, this is a very important issue when it comes to freedom of democracy and dealing with human rights. Recently, we saw 30,000 Canadians get together in solidarity for freedom and in solidarity for what the people in Iran are going through. Given how important this issue has been over the last few weeks, you as government leader should have an answer to this simple question: What due diligence has the government undertaken to make sure that any individual who is linked to the IRGC, or to this regime in Iran, does not get entry into our country?

I don’t think that is a very difficult question, but I’ll leave that one with you. And I’ll ask a second one which is a lot simpler, but again we’ve received no answer.

After all these years — after both chambers of Parliament have demanded that your government add the IRGC to the list of terrorist organizations — why does the Trudeau government refuse to? Explain that one. That’s an easy one. It’s been a long time that we’ve been asking.