Commentary
Designating a group as being a terrorist organization and adding it to the list of terrorist groups in the criminal code is serious business. Once a group is on that list, every aspect of its organization becomes criminalized in Canada from fundraising to organizing efforts. The process for adding groups to the terrorist list in the criminal code should not be rushed, taken lightly, or politicized. Unfortunately, Canada already has a record of rushing groups onto the list, and process has become hopelessly politicized.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and opposition leader Pierre Poilievre have been playing political football in the House of Commons for weeks over the status of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as protests have gripped Iran in response to the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in police custody. The treatment of women, and all citizens for that matter, under Iran’s regime and their “morality police” has come into world focus and nations are imposing sanctions against Iran and some of its military branches in response. The IRGC has been designated as a terrorist organization by several nations including the United States yet the Trudeau government is reticent to do so….