Canada lists Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as terrorist group | FULL

I’m not sure [Music] I I notifi them that when so I’ll be here go wider a bit time shocking Media news city is moving out of 299 West anent Court sorry C sorry CP24 I keep forgetting that split up [Music] that’s [Music] sure e e we work [Music] [Music] this someone’s man [Applause] start okay yeah know I know after so I asked ER where your miss him Sun what what for [Music] think spe how’s it get shut down no messes they’re all there ready to for quiet for the break please what that fck yep we’re good not anymore [Music] raising my colleagues join us so good afternoon everyone Bon primid today I’m here to announce that our government has made the decision to list the Islamic revolutionary guard core as a terrorist entity under the criminal code this action sends a strong message that Canada will use all of the tools at its disposal to combat the terrorist IST entity of the irgc the Iranian regime has consistently displayed disregard for human rights both inside and outside of Iran as well as a willingness to destabilize the international rules based order our government will ensure that there is no immunity for Iran’s unlawful actions and its support of terrorism now this is C [Music] terroris Canada has already some of the strongest measures in the world against the Iranian regime that includes the listing of several terrorist entities such as hisbah Hamas the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Taliban that have benefited from the irgc’s support in the past and continue to do so and that have helped Advance Iran’s interests in foreign policy we also designated the Islamic Republic of Iran as a regime that has engaged in terrorism and systematic or gross human rights violations as a result of this designation under the immigration and Refugee protection act thousands of senior Iranian government officials including Top irgc members are inadmissible to Canada in addition to being banned from entering the country current and former senior Iranian government officials who are in Canada may be investigated and removed terrorist our government will always promote human rights and take action against those seeking to disrupt our way of life here in Canada or around the world with that I thank you and now I’ll turn it over to my colleague the foreign affairs minister melan Mel hi everybody um we’ve been saying for years now uh to Canadians don’t go to Iran with this decision today there is a heightened risk of arbitrary detention in Iran so my message is clear for those who are in Iran right now it’s time to come back home and for those who are planning to Iran to go to Iran don’t go uh we don’t have an embassy in Iran we’ve cut diplomatic ties uh for years now and therefore we won’t be able to provide the Consular uh expertise that would be required uh thank you I just wanted to add that the consequences of a listing under the under the criminal code under section 83 are significant uh most significant is the aspect of financial transactions or monetary support for listed terrorist entities so this is important to underscore it relates to banking transactions Financial transactions of various sorts but what is also important to underscore is that there needs to be what’s called an elevated men’s rare requirement so that’s an elevated Criminal Intent people would need to be sending money that would be they would be knowing where it is going and intending that it be used for uh the support of the terrorist activity in question so it’s important for Canadians to understand the consequences of this listing and I’d now like to turn it over to one of our very strong colleagues Ali assassi thank you uh Minister uh verani I think today is a very significant uh day today we finally uh recognize the irgc for what it is it’s an entity that has uh suffocated uh bludgeoned uh Iranians at home and is also responsible uh for fomenting instability throughout the world so I wanted to uh Express uh my gratitude uh to minister leblan for having put in a robust process uh where he listened to a lot of uh voices in the Iranian Canadian Community uh the voices of experts the voices of uh numerous stakeholders uh the voices of uh of numerous uh members of parliament here today so thank you Minister Leblon for having done it in such a robust fashion also wanted to thank uh Minister Jolie uh for uh having made it possible and for Minister verani and the Department of Justice uh for having focused on this uh and making sure that we’re doing this in a responsible fashion now we will take questions [Music] May terrorist so what change what change you been every month so the decision uh to list an organization uh under Canada’s criminal code as a terrorist entity uh isn’t made because of comments on uh Twitter uh or uh question period it’s made based on the advice of our security services it’s made based on foreign policy considerations that perhaps my colleague could address um it’s a deliberative process it’s a threshold that has to be met under the criminal code of Canada the cabinet considers obviously the advice of our security agencies cus and the RCMP I’m told that there’s literally a monthly review by the security agencies of different entities around the world and whether or not the threshold has been met and whether or not they’re in a position to recommend to the government the listing under the criminal code so the government of Canada has concluded after a deliberative process uh based on very very strong and compelling evidence that the cabinet received that now is the time to list the irgc as a criminal uh as a criminal ter Mel um to add to what uh Dominic just said um from the moment we get that advice also uh and that the uh minister of Public Safety gets that advice uh I do my work on the foreign policy side and over the past uh weeks I’ve been in close contact back with all our G7 uh Partners also Partners in the region to make sure that we would be able uh to get their feedback advise them and make sure that ultimately as we’re using all the different Tools in our toolbox that this would be an important step so that’s why we to do more on this file was there pressure from the US to do more on this file there’s never been any pressure per se what I can tell you though is I had numerous conversations with my uh American counterpart on this and as many diplomatic conversations they will remain private for people who were forced are there any exemptions for people who had to join the rgc because they were uh as part of their mandatory service and who perhaps fled and came to Canada that’s something that the government said in the past they were concerned about and we remain concerned about it and that’s why as Dominic mentioned at the outset we’ve been very careful and measured in terms of our approach it’s a complex situation particular in a country as diverse as ours when you have diaspora communities that come from all corners of the world uh given that situation what we did is we reflected on the situation what I would underscore to uh to address your particular question question is that the element of uh financial support of a of a now listed terrorist entity requires an element of intention that is elevated uh the intention needs to be that people understand and know where their funds are going to and that they intend that they be used for the advancing of the terrorist activi interest if an individual was conscripted at one point in time and no longer serves with the irgc that would U affect the analysis and inform the analysis if the person who is sending the money does not know what it is going to be used for and is in fact uh kept in the dark about that information that would also affect the analysis it is not for me as attorney general to weigh into the specific niceties of a given potential prosecu prosecution but I have a lot of confidence in our law enforcement our Crown prosecutors and in our judges in a in doing an evaluation on a Case by case basis senior controls may be investigated now that this has been listed what kind of um evidence will go into into when that turns into will be investigated and how many senior officials do you think this will impact here in Canada so you’ll understand that we’re not going to speculate on individual cases or what evidence or information either the intelligence services or the RCMP use the fact that the government has now added this very uh significant uh tool to the toolbox in terms of combating global terrorism and the role of the irgc including their activities in Canada I have every confidence that uh cus and the RCMP follow the evidence do their work and work with prosecution services to make those decisions but we’re not going to speculate on how many particular cases are being investigated or the kind of persons uh that our intelligence services or police are looking at but I know from numerous conversations with both the RCMP and cees that they’re very much seized of this issue uh and that they see this also as a significant step forward in their ability to protect Canadians conc theime already P by telegraphing this announcement are you concerned that the regime may have time given the delay to pull its assets from Canada Financial otherwise listen we severed ties with diplomatic ties with Iran years ago and theyve were already listed as a state sponsor of terrorism so um therefore um we we don’t have any diplomatic ties we have no Personnel they don’t have any Personnel we are represented our protecting power in Iran is Italy and their own protective power here is Switzerland what changed to make youis is RIS bu

Minister of Public Safety Dominic LeBlanc announced in Ottawa on Wednesday that Canada has listed Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist entity, a move that will make it a Criminal Code offence to support the IRGC.

“This action sends a strong message that Canada will use all of the tools at its disposal to combat the terrorist entity of the IRGC. The Iranian regime has consistently displayed disregard for human rights, both inside and outside of Iran,” LeBlanc said. “Our government will ensure that there is no immunity for Iran’s unlawful actions and its support of terrorism.”

Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly added that her “message is clear for those who are in Iran right now — it’s time to come back home. And for those who are planning to go to Iran — don’t go.”

“Most significant is the aspect of financial transactions or monetary support for listed terrorist entities,” Minister of Justice Arif Virani elaborated. “But what is also important to underscore is that there needs to be what’s called an elevated ‘mens rea’ requirements — so that’s an elevated criminal intent.”

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