QUESTION PERIOD — Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship
Immigration System
April 28, 2026
Government leader, another well-known failure of the Carney government has been the deportation, or lack thereof, of IRGC-linked individuals in this country. Only one has been removed to date.
Now, we learn through reporting by Iran International that Mehdi Taj, a former IRGC member and the head of Iran’s football federation, is set to arrive in Canada tomorrow for the 76th FIFA Congress. He is doing so on a temporary resident permit, despite being inadmissible under Canadian law and despite the IRGC being a listed terrorist entity in Canada.
Your government can’t seem to show the IRGC the door, but it can find out a way to roll out the welcome mat and receive them.
Government leader, why is your government still unable or unwilling to enforce Canada’s terrorism-related inadmissibility rules? What is the point of listing the IRGC if you are not serious about throwing them out of our country?
The government is very serious about the security of our borders and the implementation of immigration laws.
You know very well that I cannot comment on specific cases here in this chamber, but I am sure that all the security measures provided by our immigration laws are being implemented by the government. Additionally, security at our borders is assured by the unprecedented investments that the Government of Canada has made to improve security at the borders and through the adoption of Bill C-12, which we studied a few weeks ago.
Government leader, maybe the government should ask for its money back because, clearly, whatever security measures have been put in place are not working.
This is not an isolated lapse; it is a culmination of repeated warnings that have gone unheeded. This individual was barred entry to the United States for the same security conditions. Why is Canada overriding both our own designation of the IRGC as a terrorist entity and the security judgment of our close friend and ally? When will the government get serious about dealing with these lapses in security?
Senator Housakos, unfortunately for your premise, the government is very serious about border security and the security of all Canadians, in general. We have made unprecedented investments to increase the number of RCMP officers and border officers.
As far as immigration law is concerned, since I cannot comment on individual cases, I can assure you that all security measures are taken very seriously.
