I rise today to support Senator Ratna Omidvar’s motion calling on the government to designate the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, as a terrorist entity. I want to begin by saying that, last week, Senator Omidvar gave a very intelligent and heartfelt speech about this regime and about Iran, where she used to live. I share her opinion.

Given the human and women’s rights violations and the crackdowns on protesters, the Canadian government should use this terrorist entity designation to increase pressure on the Iranian regime.

The IRGC was established in the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic revolution. It is one of the most powerful paramilitary organizations in the Middle East. It exerts an influence over nearly 50% of the Iranian economy and is making headway into Europe and the United States.

In 2020, the Tony Blair Institute in Great Britain exposed the training manuals used by the IRGC to indoctrinate recruits. They promote a violent and extremist ideology and describe the regime’s political opponents as apostates.

To date, only the United States has designated the IRGC as a terrorist entity, but parliamentarians in Europe and Great Britain are also exerting political pressure in that regard.

For its part, Canada opted for a strategy of gradual sanctions, instead of putting the entire Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on the blacklist. Since October, the government has banned nearly 1,000 senior Iranian officials from entering the country. Other sanctions followed, but it stopped short of invoking section 83.05 of the Criminal Code, which allows a judge to order that the entity be listed as a terrorist group.

More than 70 organizations are currently designated as terrorist entities under this provision, which allows the courts to order the seizure or restraint of certain assets. One such designated entity is the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force, a clandestine unit that has been providing arms and funding to extremist groups for the past 10 years.

To justify Canada’s policy, Justice Minister David Lametti explained that the IRGC is part of the armed forces in a country where military service is mandatory. He expressed concern that section 83.05 of the Criminal Code could be used unfairly, since Canada could target opponents of the Iranian regime who have taken refuge in Canada and would have been ordinary conscripts.

In practice, however, the designation would primarily affect senior officers who have assets, who may interfere in Canada or try to cross our border.

The House of Commons passed a motion on this in 2018, but unfortunately no action has been taken.

It is time that the Senate voted on this as well, in the hope that Parliament will speak with one voice and call on the government to recognize the IRGC for what it is, namely a terrorist entity, and treat it as such. Thank you.