Victims of forced conscription should not be treated the same as those who chose to join a terrorist organization.
Today I joined members of the Iranian-Canadian community on Parliament Hill to demand that the government stop targeting conscripts and deport real IRGC terrorists.
Many of these conscripts have been among the most vocal opponents of the IRGC.
Conservatives have already shown the government a simple legislative fix to this problem. Thus far, Liberals have failed to adopt that fix.
@GarnettGenuis Thank you so much @GarnettGenuis for supporting us and being our voice. Conscripts are innocent and government should stop punishing them.
If you care about humanity, fairness, and standing up for people who have been forced to endure the actions of a regime they never chose, please join us tomorrow in Ottawa.
Hundreds of Iranian families are facing fear and uncertainty because their history of compulsory conscription is being used against them in their immigration cases.
These are not abstract cases. They are parents, children, professionals, students, and members of our communities who have built their lives in Canada.
We are not asking Canada to compromise national security. We are asking for fairness, due process, and a clear distinction between those who willingly served the IRGC and those who were forced into conscription.
📍 Parliament Hill, Ottawa
🕛 12–2 PM | September 22
If you believe that a victim is not a perpetrator, please stand with us tomorrow.
Your presence matters.
They fled the Iranian regime for safety, only to face deportation threats in Canada because of compulsory service they had no choice, but to complete. Why is Canada lagging behind the UK and Australia in setting fair guidelines for former conscripts?
https://t.co/BJYSZMqnCU
📢 نامه سرگشاده جمعی از متخصصان ایرانی
جمعی از پزشکان، مهندسان، اساتید دانشگاه، پژوهشگران و متخصصان ایرانی با انتشار نامهای سرگشاده، نسبت به پیامدهای روند ناعادلانهای که در پیِ خدمت اجباری سربازی در سپاه پاسداران برای بسیاری از ایرانیان در پروندههای مهاجرتی ایجاد شده، ابراز نگرانی کردهاند.
در این نامه، متخصصان ایرانی تأکید کردهاند که خدمت اجباری نباید با عضویت داوطلبانه یا وابستگی ایدئولوژیک به یک نهاد یکسان تلقی شود و تصمیمات مهاجرتی نباید زندگی، آینده شغلی و فرصتهای خانوادهها را به دلیل خدمتی که تحت اجبار قانونی انجام شده، تحت تأثیر قرار دهد.
این مسئله تنها یک موضوع مهاجرتی نیست؛ موضوع زندگی، آینده خانوادهها و فرصتهای افرادی است که سالها برای ساختن آینده خود تلاش کردهاند.
📌 از شما دعوت میکنیم این نامه را بخوانید و برای آگاهیرسانی بیشتر به اشتراک بگذارید.
📢 Open Letter from Iranian Professionals
Doctors, engineers, professors, researchers, and other Iranian professionals have come together to raise concerns about the unfair immigration consequences faced by former Iranian conscripts who were forcibly conscripted to the IRGC.
Mandatory service is not voluntary membership. Their futures should not be defined by service they were forced to perform.
Please read, share, and help amplify their voices.
@AliEhsassi@kshahrooz@esmaeilion@ps752justice@IJCollective@NazaninAJ@MichaelParsa@rezamoridi@RezaVaisi@PahlaviReza@TinaGhazimorad
#ConscriptsAreNotMembers #JusticeForIranianConscripts #IranianConscripts #MandatoryConscription #IRGCConscripts #ImmigrationJustice
At the Cyrus the Great event in Toronto on September 19, 2026, attended by Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre delivered an important message: Canada must focus on the actual perpetrators—not innocent conscripts who were themselves victims of the regime.
In his remarks, Poilievre spoke directly about the concern that Canada’s response to the IRGC threat is being misdirected toward innocent conscripts who were trying to escape the regime:
“...the response of our government instead has been to go after the innocent conscripts who wanted to get away from those thugs. My friends, we should stand with the innocent people, not the terrorists.”
For former Iranian conscripts, compulsory service was not a choice, a political allegiance, or voluntary membership in the IRGC. Yet many are now facing serious immigration consequences because they were compelled to serve.
You cannot fight terrorism by inflating the numbers and turning victims into perpetrators.
Canada should focus its resources on individuals who actually participated in, supported, or willingly served the IRGC—not ordinary people who were forced into compulsory service.
Conscripts are not members. Victims are not perpetrators. Justice requires that distinction.
Special thanks to @PierrePoilievre for continuing to speak up for victims of the Iranian regime and for calling for fairness and a more targeted approach.
@MelissaLantsman@MichelleRempel@CostasMenegakis@vincentneilho@GarnettGenuis@MarcDalton@MarkJCarney@gary_srp@LenaMetlegeDiab@AliEhsassi
I fought hard to get the IRGC listed as a terrorist organization. When I put forward a bill to list them, I included a section to protect victims of forced conscription. Liberals failed to include this part of my bill.
We already have a clear solution to this problem. Liberals should adopt it.
🚨 CBC NEWS: Iranian told he may have to leave Canada over past IRGC Mandatory Conscription
This is not an isolated case.
Hundreds of Iranian nationals are facing possible inadmissibility and removal over past mandatory conscription in Iran.
Canada has consistently assured the Iranian-Canadian community that conscripts would not be affected by the IRGC listing and that cases would be assessed individually.
Yet what we are witnessing today raises a deeply troubling question:
Are those assurances being honoured in practice?
Families who built their lives in Canada are now facing uncertainty, inadmissibility findings, and the possibility of removal because of mandatory service they were compelled to complete.
🇨🇦 Mandatory conscription is not membership. Conscription is not ideological affiliation. Canada must keep its promise.
📢 This issue affects hundreds of families. Read the CBC report. Share their stories. Make their voices heard.
@MarkJCarney@gary_srp@LenaMetlegeDiab@AliEhsassi@PierrePoilievre@MelissaLantsman@GarnettGenuis@vincentneilho@CostasMenegakis
@TTRRMK Government just decided to target innocent people instead of real IRGC agents. Just making fake numbers for their reports. @NegarMojtahedi@MortazaviMahsa