Minister pressed why just 1 Iranian official deported after 24 deemed part of terror group
CBC
Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree faced pointed questions Tuesday about why the federal government has deported one Iranian official, despite longstanding concerns about how the regime operates in Canada and abroad.
Finding himself in the hot seat before a parliamentary committee, Anandasangaree said Canada is "aggressively trying to remove" members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) — a branch of Iran's military that Canada listed as a terrorist entity under the Criminal Code in 2024 — but said due process has to be followed.
The Liberal government has long faced pressure from diaspora groups and the Opposition about its treatment of former IRGC officials. That pressure has only grown since the United States and Israel's war with Iran began last month.
"There are far too many of them. You have deported one. That's it," Conservative Frank Caputo put to the minister during a meeting of the standing committee on public safety and national security.
"I want to know how many terrorists are there in Canada."
Facing multiple questions on the issue, Anandasangaree repeated that there's some 24 individuals who have gone through an assessment and have been deemed to be members of the IRGC and therefore inadmissible.
"That is the position of the government of Canada. We are in the process of removing them," he said.
According to public figures from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), as of March 5 three individuals have been issued deportation orders. So far, just one has been removed.
Anandasangaree said another individual is tracking for removal "very shortly" and six more have voluntarily left.
"When somebody is alleged to be a member of a terrorist entity we have due process, but we also have a legal standard that we have to abide by," he said.
CBSA has said if it believes allegations, including tips, against a suspected IRGC official are well founded they report the individual to the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB). If the IRB determines at the end of a hearing that the person is inadmissible, they will issue a removal order.
Five individuals have been found not inadmissible by the board and the CBSA said it has filed an appeal in four of those cases.
Eight inadmissible cases are ongoing, according to the CBSA.
"Make no mistake, every single individual who is a member of the IRGC in Canada will be removed," Anandasangaree said.
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