Public safety minister urged to take domestic threats from Iran seriously

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OTTAWA — Calls are growing for Canada to start taking the threat posed by Iran seriously.

Among them is the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, which is urging Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree to secure Canada from further infiltration by Iranian agents and agitators and to ban the glorification of terror in Canada.

“It’s really important that while things seem to be wrapping up with a ceasefire in terms of the current hostilities between Israel, the United States and Iran, that Canadians understand that the threat from Iran extends beyond its nuclear and missile programs,” said CIJA interim president Noah Shack.

“(Iran’s) export of terrorism endangers global security and puts Canadians at risk, both abroad and here at home, and there are real public safety concerns in Canada when it comes to the Iranian regime that are in sharp relief right now.”

Former federal justice minister Irwin Cotler — himself the subject of a foiled Iranian assassination plot — told The Globe and Mail this week he fears the Iranian regime may have activated “sleeper cells” to carry out acts of violence within Canada.

Previous news reports have suggested that as many as 700 people affiliated with the Iranian government or Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps may be in Canada. That also includes Iran’s funding of terrorist groups worldwide, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and Palestinian terrorists such as Hamas, as well as indications of Iranian money funding far-left and extremist pro-Palestinian groups in Canada.

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While flags of the Iranian regime are common sights at Canada’s anti-Israel rallies, last weekend’s pro-Iran demonstration in downtown Toronto — sponsored and/or supported by public service unions like CUPE and OPSEU — featured troubling language from participants, ranging from flags and signs supporting the continued attacks and eventual destruction of Israel to people holding photos of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“If I were a member of one of these unions, I’d be asking some tough questions — is my union representing my interests or are they standing up for a vile,  theocratic dictatorship that brutally oppresses its own people while spreading death and destruction around the world?” Shack said.

“There’s an urgent need for a gut check about who’s leading these unions and what are they doing to actually represent their members.”

bpassifiume@postmedia.com
X: @bryanpassifiume