The House of Commons has unanimously voted in support of a motion to list Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization.
The action increases the pressure on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to take a hard line against the IRGC.
The motion put forward by Conservative MP Garnett Genuis came from a House justice committee report that MPs voted 327–0 to accept May 8.
Although the vote was unanimous—meaning all Liberal MPs who voted supported the motion—it is not binding and serves as a suggestion that the government take action.
The Conservatives and some diaspora members, including families of the victims of Flight PS752, have been asking the government to list the IRGC as a terrorist entity for the past four years. PS752 was shot down by Iran on Jan. 8, 2020, not long after the plane took off from Tehran. All 176 people onboard, including 55 Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents, were killed.
Mr. Trudeau remained non-committal during a PS752 commemoration ceremony in Richmond Hill, Ontario, earlier this year.
Steps Against IRGC
The United States, which declared the IRGC a terrorist group in 2019 under then-President Donald Trump, has repeatedly called on Canada to do the same.A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers wrote a letter to the Liberal government last December, asking Ottawa to designate the Iranian paramilitary group as a terrorist organization.
He added that Canada would “continue to do everything necessary both to hold that regime to account to limit its impact around the world and to protect Canadians.”
Some government officials have cited concerns that a terrorist designation would vilify innocent people.
Former Justice Minister David Lametti said in 2022 that using the Criminal Code against Iran would be too much of a “blunt instrument” because military service is mandatory in the country. He said labelling the IRGC a terrorist organization could potentially “punish innocent people or those against the regime.”
Rather than declare the IRGC a terrorist organization, Ottawa instead took steps to prevent senior members of the Iranian regime from entering Canada. Implemented on Nov. 14, 2022, the ban applies to those who have “perpetrated crimes against the people of Iran and other nations.” The ban covers heads of state, cabinet members, ambassadors, senior diplomats, military officials, and judges from Iran.
When pressed to go further than the current ban, the Liberals have said it’s up to national security agencies to decide whether Canada deems a branch of Iran’s military to be a terrorist group.
The federal government in February 2021 adding the Proud Boys along with 12 other entities to the list of terrorist organizations. The move followed a vote by MPs a month prior to declare the group as such.
Designation as a terrorist entity can also be implemented if there is evidence the group has “knowingly acted on behalf of, at the direction of or in association with, an entity involved in a terrorist activity.”
