Justin Trudeau’s failure to take decisive action against Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is putting Canadian lives in danger. Despite mounting evidence of IRGC intimidation, money laundering, and other criminal interference within Canada’s borders, Trudeau has dragged his feet on directly confronting this hostile force.
When asked, Trudeau has evaded giving a clear answer on banning the IRGC, failing to heed calls from activists like Ramin Joubin to designate the IRGC as a terrorist entity. His lack of leadership has allowed over 700 IRGC operatives to embed in Canada, using it as a safe haven to threaten dissidents worldwide.
Trudeau’s passivity has even led the FBI to declare Canada an unsafe haven for activists like Masih Alinejad who is targeted by the IRGC.
Unlike Trudeau, opposition leader Pierre Poilievre has shown the courage needed to combat this threat, demanding firm action before more innocent lives are endangered by Trudeau’s reckless inaction against IRGC operatives infiltrating Canada.
Have 8 years of Trudeau really transformed Canada into a dangerous country? Find out now.
Pierre Poilievre is again showing strong leadership in responding to troubling revelations about Iranian regime interference in Canada. As leader of the Opposition, Poilievre is calling for immediate action against the Iranian regime, expressing appropriate outrage over the idea that “terrorist-linked Iranian regime thugs” could be “operating with impunity” in Canada.
In a recent interview with Global News, Poilievre said he is ready to “kick them out”. He added that the thought “that we might have terrorist-linked Iranian regime thugs operating with impunity, spending stolen money and intimidating Canadian Jews and Iranians is appalling”.
His words come as a sharp contrast to Trudeau’s weak stance on the issue, particularly when there are documented cases of IRGC intimidation, money laundering, and other crimes in Canada.
This documentation is in part thanks to Ramin Joubin – a British Columbia lawyer and the President of the Alliance of Iranian Canadians. He started a brave mission last year to expose human rights abuses and illegal activities by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or IRGC which is an influential branch of the Iranian military that controls the country’s destructive weapons programs.
Joubin has joined forces with an international coalition of lawyers to document cases of IRGC intimidation, money laundering, and other crimes in Canada.
The IRGC’s clandestine Qods Force, which props up extremist groups, is already designated as a terrorist entity in Canada, but so far the larger IRGC has avoided this label.
Joubin is trying to change that by submitting detailed reports on IRGC activities to the government, with the goal of getting the entire IRGC rightfully recognized as a terrorist organization and held accountable for its actions as the US already has.
Joubin’s investigation into the IRGC in Canada has since uncovered alarming results. Joubin revealed that his database currently contains around 700 names of IRGC-linked individuals with some form of legal status in Canada, whether temporary residence, permanent residence, or even full citizenship.
As Joubin described, these regime insiders view Canada as a “safe haven” and have embedded themselves in the country, likely to continue threatening activists and dissidents who speak out against the Iranian regime even from abroad.
Poilievre called the staggering number of IRGC-affiliated individuals identified so far “shocking” and emphasized the need for immediate action to expel these dangerous individuals from Canada.
Global News reporter Negar Mojtahedi asked Trudeau if he would commit to listing the IRGC as a terrorist entity, but the answer she got was nowhere near as definitive as Canadians need.
When the reporter asked Trudeau for a more direct answer, he still could not provide one, again showing Canadians that he, as Prime Minister, does not care about their safety.
Joubin, who is likely putting his life in danger as he investigates the IRGC, also criticized Trudeau for not giving a clear answer to the reporter’s question.
Flight PS752 was a Ukraine International Airlines flight that the IRGC shot down shortly after its takeoff from Tehran on January 8th, 2020. The IRGC launched two surface-to-air missiles that struck the passenger plane, killing all 176 people on board.
Among the victims were 55 Canadian citizens, 30 permanent residents of Canada, and others with ties to the country. The unprovoked attack demonstrated the deadly and reckless actions the IRGC is willing to take to enforce its agenda.
But even this heinous act was not enough to categorize the IRGC as a terrorist organization in Canada.
Families of the bereaved have since been compensated, but Trudeau has still evaded taking direct action against the IRGC.
This is very strange considering that the federal government referred to the IRGC as a terrorist organization, described its leadership as terrorists, and announced measures to make some members of the group inadmissible to Canada.
Yet, it has not listened to calls from the families of victims aboard the flight, activists, or members of the Conservative party to designate the militia group as a terrorist entity.
According to a former terrorism specialist with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, there is no reason not to since the IRGC meets all the criteria. He added that he doesn’t know what’s going through the minds of the foreign minister, or the public safety minister, or the prime minister who are all dragging their feet on this issue.
On the other hand, Poilievre is showing the leadership that Trudeau lacks but actively pushing the government to list the IRGC as a terrorist entity in Canada.
The difference between Poilievre’s and Trudeau’s approaches on this critical issue is like night and day, with one awkwardly avoiding reporters’ questions about direct action, and the other pushing on multiple platforms to stop the terrorist groups in Canada and expose them once and for all. Between the two, it’s clear who really has Canadian’s safety in mind.
To see how unsafe Canada has really become under Trudeau, you just have to look at Masih Alinejad, a world-renowned human rights activist whose recent comments have shown how Canada has become a safe haven for terrorists instead of a home for the activists whose lives are threatened.
Alinejad has been forced to constantly move between safe houses after an attempt on her life was orchestrated by the Iranian regime in July 2022.
Even in the US, the FBI has told Alinejad her life is in danger from Iranian Revolutionary Guards. Shockingly, the FBI specifically warned Alinejad not to travel to Canada, assessing it as an even greater threat to her life than the US.
As Alinejad revealed, the FBI told her the same Iranian operatives trying to kill her in America are “trying to harass, kidnap and kill Canadians.” This dire warning about the dangers dissidents face in Canada is alarming.
But this is not the first time Alinejad has spoken out about the harm Trudeau’s inaction is causing.
As Pierre Poilievre aptly stated, it is unbelievably sad that after 8 years of Trudeau, Canada is now viewed as too dangerous for outspoken activists like Alinejad targeted by the Iranian regime.
But this danger applied to others living in Canada. People like Iranian-Canadian human rights activist Soushiant Zanganehpour initiated an online petition last year urging immediate action from Trudeau against the IRGC.
Zanganehpour is demanding the IRGC be officially designated as a terrorist entity in Canada, which would allow authorities to seize IRGC assets and deport associated officials and their families.
As Zanganehpour explained, such decisive measures are currently lacking, allowing Canada to remain a “safe haven” for the IRGC members who perpetrate appalling human rights abuses in Iran and threaten dissidents abroad.
Zanganehpour’s petition aims to ramp up pressure on the Canadian government to stop providing refuge to the IRGC and its operatives. By formally labeling the organization as terrorist, Canada can take concrete steps to restrict the IRGC’s activities within its borders and make the country far less hospitable for its members.
This was last year, and still Trudeau has not taken any action, Trudeau continues to drag his feet when it comes to direct action against this group operating on Canadian soil.
Despite over 700 suspected IRGC affiliates identified in Canada and evidence of harassment and intimidation campaigns, Trudeau evades clear answers on banning the IRGC. His failure to protect dissidents has led even the FBI to declare Canada unsafe.
In contrast, Pierre Poilievre has shown the decisive leadership Trudeau lacks. Poilievre is urgently calling for the IRGC to be designated a terrorist entity, its assets seized, and its members expelled from Canada.
While Trudeau timidly averts the problems, Poilievre tackles them head-on. Poilievre’s tenacity proves he prioritizes Canadian lives over political pandering. With courageous activists risking it all to expose the IRGC, Canada needs Poilievre’s stern approach, not Trudeau’s weak platitudes.
