Canada permanently banning top Iranian regime officials, levelling new sanctions
Canada is permanently banning top members of the Iranian regime from coming into the country, restricting financial transactions with Iran, and pursuing new sanction enforcement measures, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Friday.
"We're taking steps that will raise the bar internationally, in holding Iran accountable," Trudeau said alongside Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland in Ottawa.
The federal government will be pursuing a listing of the Iranian regime, as well as the leadership of a branch of the Iranian armed forces known as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), under what Trudeau called "the most powerful provision" of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA).
Only used in cases of war crimes, genocide, and other serious human rights violations, Canada is moving to make the top 50 per cent of the IRCG leadership—an estimated 10,000 officers and senior members— inadmissible to Canada, forever. This move will also mean that they will be prohibited from doing business or holding assets in Canada.
This move comes amid ongoing condemnation of Iran for its violent crackdown on protesters sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini, who was detained for allegedly violating the country's forced veiling law.
Trudeau said Canada is restricting financial transactions with Iran, associated with the IRGC and the proxies that support them.
Canada is also vowing to "massively expand" its targeted sanctions to hold Iran accountable, and is allocating $76 million towards strengthening Canada's ability to implement sanctions.
"This will ensure we can move more quickly to freeze and seize sanctioned individuals' assets… It will also support the establishment of a new sanctions bureau in Global Affairs Canada, and new capacity at the RCMP," Trudeau said.
The government will be expanding its capacity to fight money laundering and illegal financial activity, as well as cracking down on foreign interference, "to protect Iranian Canadians and other communities in Canada," the prime minister said.
While Freeland spoke about how Canada views the Iranian regime as a state sponsor of terrorism, and called the IRGC a "terrorist organization," Canada's leading government officials stopped short Friday of deciding to formally add the IRGC to Canada's list of terrorist entities.
It's a move the Liberals have previously said would be up for national security agencies to decide, despite calls dating back to 2018 from parliamentarians to declare the IRGC a terrorist entity.
"It is repressive, theocratic, and misogynist. The IRGC leadership are terrorists," Freeland said. "Today by listing the IRGC under IRPA, and indeed, by listing the broader leadership of the Iranian regime, we are formally recognizing that fact and acting accordingly.”
While the Liberals are framing Friday's announcement as going "far beyond" what the Conservatives have been calling for, it's likely that political pressure on the government to keep pursing new measures against Iran will not ease up.
Trudeau said that ministers will have more to say about the full suite of measures Canada has been working on all week, saying the cabinet is "not taking any further tools off the table."
This week marked the 1,000th day since Iran's downing of Flight PS752 near Tehran. Most of the 176 people killed were headed to Canada through Ukraine on that flight, and the federal government says it will remain "relentless" in its pursuit of justice for those families, in the face of Iran's refusal to accept responsibility.
Earlier this week the federal government announced new sanctions against 25 members of Iranian leadership and nine entities, including top officials and Iran's so-called morality police. Trudeau said Friday that Canada will continue to use all tools at its disposal to amplify the "message of hope and freedom" coming from women in Iran and those standing with them.
"The actions we have taken, and are announcing today are some of the strongest measures anywhere against Iran. To the strong, resilient and proud Iranian Canadian community: we hear your voices, we heard your calls for action. That is why today we are using the most powerful tools at our disposal to crack down on this brutal regime," Trudeau said.
IN DEPTH
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
'Democracy requires constant vigilance' Trudeau testifies at inquiry into foreign election interference in Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified Wednesday before the national public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada's electoral processes, following a day of testimony from top cabinet ministers about allegations of meddling in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Recap all the prime minister had to say.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Police arrest 3 Indian nationals in killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – as authorities continue investigating potential connections to the Indian government.
Suter scores late goal, clinches series for Canucks
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
TD worst-case scenario more likely after drug money laundering allegations: analyst
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
Quebec man who threatened Trudeau, Legault online sentenced to 20 months in jail
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
Human remains found in rural Sask. possibly a decade old, RCMP say
RCMP say human remains found in a rural area in central Saskatchewan may have been there for a decade or more.
Britney Spears 'home and safe' after paramedics responded to an incident at the Chateau Marmont, source tells CNN
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
Canadian doctor concerned new weight-loss drug Wegovy may be used inappropriately
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
Drew Carey is never quitting 'The Price Is Right'
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.
Local Spotlight
Twin Alberta Ballet dancers retire after 15 years with company
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
Here's how one of Sask.'s largest power plants was knocked out for 73 days, and what it took to fix it
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
Quebec police officer anonymously donates kidney, changes schoolteacher's life
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Canada's oldest hat store still going strong after 90 years
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Road closed in Oak Bay, B.C., so elephant seal can cross
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
B.C. breweries take home awards at World Beer Cup
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Kitchener family says their 10-year-old needs life-saving drug that cost $600,000
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.