Senator Housakos: Senator Omidvar, I appreciate, all of a sudden, the concern that we have in this chamber, and, of course, our side will respect and support your motion; it’s common sense.

But I would also like to see more consistency when it comes to human rights and not cherry-picking. I also want to make sure that the government that represents this Parliament and this country also has the courage to stand up and call out Iran when they invest in Hezbollah and when they do what they do so despicably in Lebanon, in Gaza and all around the world. It’s not enough to have a navel-gazing motion and just call on the government to list them. We’ve been calling on this government to list them since 2015. What we’d really like to see is the government leader get up in the chamber and say that we will do it. I’d like the government leader to get up in the chamber as representative of this institution and tell the government you represent to list the IRGC, and do it now. You have a moral obligation. Until we start doing stuff like that, I think I’m a little bit skeptical about the intention of many of these motions — when they happen and the way they happen.

We’ve now had eight years of a government that has been soft on human rights and has been soft on Iran. Just a few weeks ago, I asked about a news story we saw in the Canadian news about family members and friends of the ayatollah and the regime in Iran living in Toronto. They’re living off the proceeds of that regime, and they’re living here freely — no Magnitsky sanctions. None of the laws we have in this country are holding these authoritarians and their friends and family to account. Colleagues, you were there when I asked the question, and you can pull them out in the transcripts. I got less than acceptable answers from the government leader, and, of course, we never get acceptable answers from the government. They keep telling us it’s complicated.

I can go on and on, but it’s a little bit late, and I know everyone is tired. All I will say is that, of course, we Conservatives support the motion. We have been consistent now for two decades when it comes to condemning the IRGC. We’ve never wavered. When Mr. Harper was in government, he took concrete actions. He did it in the international arena. He was never afraid to do so. He was never afraid of the consequences and blowback, and we currently have a government that is afraid to call out Beijing. For about two years in 2016-17, they were actually giving us a lecture in diplomacy — ready to reopen embassies in Iran. These are all facts. I’m not making it up, and you all know it.

Let’s move this motion. It deserves to pass, Senator Omidvar, but colleagues, let’s also make sure that, going forward, human rights is something we defend morning, noon, evening and all the time. It’s our obligation as a nation.

Thank you.

Hon. Leo Housakos (Acting Leader of the Opposition): Thank you, Your Honour. My interpretation of the rules you sent out — and I will respect them — was that if we had social distancing space around us that we could take the mask off if we had a cumbersome time breathing. It is a little bit cumbersome.