Canada's Sanctimonious Hypocrisy

"We are using the most powerful tools at our disposal to crack down on this brutal regime."

"[This Canadian action will serve to] raise the bar internationally in holding Iran accountable."

"[Ottawa plans to make certain it is] going after the right people, be they in Iran or in Canada".

"We intend to massively expand targeted sanctions to hold to account those people most responsible for Iran's egregious behaviour."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

 

"This is a big concern for Iranian people. It's mainly the legal teams or the advisers; they still believe in negotiation with Iran because they don't see Iran, or the Iranian regime as a Mafia group."

"If you change  your mindset, that you're not negotiating with Switzerland or a democratic country, then it would solve the problem."

"Canada has become a safe haven for the criminals of the Islamic Republic of Iran."

Hamed Esmaellion, Iranian-Canadian

Mahsa Amini, undated photo

 

An Iranian Canadian, Hamed Esmellion who lost his wife and daughter in the January 2020 tragedy, represents a group of families grieving the loss of their loved ones as the 1000-day anniversary approaches of a Ukraine Airlines flight leaving Tehran shot down by the IRGC on edge, expecting a return salvo to artillery aimed at an American base in Iraq as payback for a U.S. strike killing major-General Qasem Soleimani. Despite their unease no move was made to close the airways to civilian air traffic, and the airliner was hit by two missiles, killing all 175 aboard, mostly headed to Canada.

 

Those same Iranians who lost spouses, sisters, brothers, parents and children in that missile attack know of the presence of numerous Iranians linked to the ruling theocracy, who worked for the regime or are related to senior officials, moving back and forth from Iran to Canada, some living there, others on temporary visas. The presence of these regime-linked Iranians in Canada is well known, an offence to Canada's own laws which do not permit entry to those involved in conflict or have been members of human-rights-abusing regimes.

NDP foreign affairs critic Heather McPherson has been attempting to access information relating to sanctions on Russians related to the war in Ukraine: "We can't get information about how much, what's been seized, how effective have they been. I worry that they [the new Iranian sanctions] are not going to be as effective as they could be, because the government doesn't want to be transparent on how that's being rolled out."

Worldwide protests against the Islamic Republic of Iran have spread from Iranian Kurdistan to all the provinces of Iran, reflecting outrage over the murder of 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian Mahsa Amini at the hands of the Iranian morality police while she was visiting Tehran to see her brother. She was arrested in September for the sin of wearing her hijab too loosely, so that wisps of her hair could be seen. She was beaten in custody and when she died, police announced it was the result of a heart attack.

Bleeding from the right ear can be seen in this hospital photo of Mahsa Amini

 

Last week, 50,000 Canadians attended a rally in support of the Iranian protesters that took place in Richmond Hill, just north of Toronto. Invited to speak, Prime Minister Trudeau was disinterested and instead went bungee-jumping with his son. The limited sanctions announced by the prime minister fails to designate the entire Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist group. Another oversight of this Liberal government which had intended to restore diplomatic relations with Iran, after the previous government had closed Canada's embassy in Tehran and ordered Iranian diplomats out of Canada.

Protesters in Mashhad, Iran second largest city and an important religious center. October 8, 2022

"[The Liberal government] has overall a bit of an issue with following up on rhetorical commitments in its foreign policy in general, and specifically on sanctions, to actually implement sanctions."

"The symbol of announcing sanctions on these individuals is necessary, and it's a good first step, but what I think we should all be looking at now is if it actually happens."

"What if an individual shows up at the Canadian border or an individual is a permanent resident or a citizen in Canada, and he says, 'yes, I was in the IRGC, but I was a cook as a conscript for one year in 1997'. How do you know that's true?"

"[Canada already has a history of announcing without implement sanctions fully, which] carries a cost in terms of credibility [with both allies and opponents."

"The issue for me is always to actually follow through."

Thomas Juneau, associate professor, international affairs, University of Ottawa

 

"The Iranian regime are known to have assets, are known to come and go freely in this country, and they should be banned as a terrorist organization."

"[Seizing the assets of the Iranian regime in Canada to redistribute funding to victims of Ukraine International Airlines flight 752, shot down by Iran in 2020 killing 176 aboard], That's what would do justice to those victims."

Conservative foreign affairs critic Melissa Lantsman

Protest blocking a road in Tehran on 1 October. Photograph: EPA