Hon. Ratna Omidvar: Honourable senators, I continue on a sombre note and wish to give voice to the brave Iranian women, men, girls and boys who are facing down a brutal regime in Iran. What better way to do this than to use their own words. These words, which I will read out shortly, were crowdsourced by 25‑year-old musician Shervin Hajipour who captured their essence and put them to music.

On release of the song, he was, of course, immediately jailed and tortured before being released again. He has gone silent, but the song has gone viral — not just in Iran but, in fact, globally.

I am fortunate enough to understand Persian, and every time I listen to this piece, I go weak in the knees. I am struck by how inclusive the words are, and how they are a musical cry for justice. So here goes.

The song is titled “Baraye” or “For.”

For dancing in the alleys

For breaking the taboo of kissing in public

For my sister, your sister, our sisters

For changing rusted minds

For the shame of poverty

For the longing for a normal life

For the dumpster diving children and their wishes

For getting rid of this planned economy

For this polluted air

For the dying Tehran’s landmark trees

For the Persian cheetah about to go extinct

For the unjustly banned street dogs

For the unstoppable tears

For the scene of repeating this moment

For the smiling faces

For students and their future

For this forced road to paradise

For the imprisoned elite students

For the neglected Afghan refugee kids

For all these “for”s that are beyond repetition

For all of these meaningless slogans

For the rubbles of the bribe-built buildings

For the feeling of peace

For the sun after these long nights

For anxiety and insomnia pills

For men, fatherland, prosperity

For the girl who wished to be a boy

For women, life, freedom

Thank you.

Hon. Ratna Omidvar: Honourable senators, my question is for Senator Gold and it is about Iran and hope — specifically the hope that we are seeing based on the actions of courageous Iranian women and girls who are fighting and demonstrating for their freedom.

Canada is helping. We have sanctioned 34 more Iranian officials, adding to the 41 who were already sanctioned along with 161 entities. That is good, but I think that we can do more. You will remember, Senator Gold, that in the Budget Implementation Act that we passed in June of this year, Canada has the authority to confiscate and repurpose sanctioned assets back to the victims. I think this is a glorious opportunity for Canada to step forward in this way.

Can you confirm whether Canada will use this new tool and move to confiscate Iranian assets to help the victims of this oppressive regime?

Senator Omidvar: I am pleased to hear that the government is exploring all options. Could the government provide the dollar amount of Iranian assets that have been sanctioned by the Canadian government?

Hon. Ratna Omidvar: Honourable senators, I rise to acknowledge the contribution of Iranian Canadians to our great country.

Most of us left Iran in the wake of the Islamic Revolution, and “left” is actually a benign word for how we got out. Some crawled, others fought, yet others smuggled themselves out. Others paid to get out at some considerable personal risk to their own lives, as my family in the gallery can attest.

I remember looking back at the border between Turkey and Iran. I looked back one last time — it was early dawn — to Iran. I remember saying to myself, “Iran will be a democracy in five years — this was 1981 — and I will be back.”

Colleagues, how wrong I was. I no longer believe that I will ever go back to Iran and that Iran will, at least not in my lifetime, be a democracy.

Instead, we have chosen to set down roots in our new country. There are close to 200,000 Iranian-Canadians in Canada. After the initial 10 years of hardship — fitting in, finding work, finding your identity — I think it’s safe to say that Iranian-Canadians have arrived. They are present in all aspects of our society. They are entrepreneurs. They are leaders in business. They are leaders in industry and finance. They are academics and thought leaders. They are politicians and philanthropists. They are architects and developers. They are politicians. They are writers, artists and actors, and, yes, they play baseball and hockey, although, frankly, they are still mad for soccer.

Like other Canadians, they also voice their opinions, as they have been doing in the last two days in Canada to protest the oppression of women in Iran. Their trajectory is not unlike that of other immigrant communities. They take to heart the universal message that is sent to us when we arrive: Work hard, follow the rules and you and your children will succeed.

As I look at my family up in the gallery, I know that none of us imagined a life for ourselves outside of Iran. But now that we are here, I know we are also incredibly grateful to this country for allowing us to weave our narrative into yours and Canada’s. Thank you.