QUESTION PERIOD — Foreign Affairs
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
October 4, 2022
Honourable senators, my question is for the government leader in the Senate.
Senator Gold, in recent days we have had information circulating that high-ranking government officials connected to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, and the brutal regime in Iran — including the family members of none other than the supreme leader himself — have been seeking refuge right here in Canada. It has been reported that many might already be here.
My question for you, government leader, is very simple. Can you tell us what due diligence the Trudeau government has undertaken to make sure that no individual, or individuals, with links to the IRGC and to this brutal government will be — or have been — granted entry into Canada?
Thank you for the question. I don’t have the answer to your question. I will endeavour to determine what information can be shared on a subject that clearly engages our security and our commitments to oppose the tyranny and the state-sponsored terrorism for which Iran is properly held accountable. I’ll do my best to have an answer as quickly as I can.
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.
Thank you for the question. As I’ve answered in this chamber before, the government has listed a number of entities attached to the regime and individuals — and, indeed, most recently, the government has added more to the list and is constantly reviewing how to proceed further. The government condemns the actions of Iran against its own citizens and the actions of Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism.
If I may respond to the preamble to your second question: Of course, these are serious questions. Of course, they’re important questions. But the fact that I don’t have, at my fingertips, the answer to what due diligence has been taken with regard to specific attempts, such as there may be, to enter this country, and the fact that I undertake to try to find an answer that can be shared, without compromising national security, is something that I hope senators will understand is the best that I can do. That is in no way to diminish or minimize the importance of the question.
