billy

We fight till we WIN! 💪🏻

[Mahboob @mahboob_24k]

The last time I spoke to you, I had tears in my eyes as I told you about the devastating situation you had helped create for former conscripts. I remember you telling me that it wasn’t as simple as picking up the phone and talking to Minister Gary, that you couldn’t just easily get hold of him and fix the situation.
Back then, I had not yet received a PFL. Today, I have.
Back then, you did nothing. And today, seeing this photo of you standing right next to Minister Gary, knowing what former conscripts and their families are going through, and still doing nothing is heartbreaking.

[Soroush @subtle_vision]

That’s right! The moon won’t hide behind the clouds forever.
He who shattered countless families and ruined countless children’s futures with his incompetence and false trustworthiness will soon be judged.
And with over 10k Iranians living in Willowdale, ON, will remember this when the next election comes around.

[billy @BL2624]

@AliEhsassi @AliEhsassi , shame on you. As your constituent, I repeatedly asked to meet, and you ignored me. Conscripts are not IRGC members. They were forced to serve. You and Minister Gary know the harm this rule causes. Stop hiding and fix it.
#ConscriptsAreNotMembers

[Rom Geller 🇮🇷 @ramin12500]

Iranian conscripts are not regime operatives. They are young men forced into mandatory military service under threat of punishment.

Forced service is not ideological membership.

#JusticeForIranianConscripts #ConscriptsAreNotMembers

[UnheardConscripts @UCAN_Advocacy]

Thank you, Nicholas, for this powerful and touching article. Speaking up is part of the solution, and your work in giving a voice to innocent families is critical.

We hope the government makes the right decision and focuses on genuine threats rather than targeting law-abiding families who call Canada home.

The IRGC is a threat to all of us as Iranians. It is unacceptable that the very people who have suffered because of the regime could now be placed in danger as a result of how Canada applies blanket policies.

People like Reza deserve protection, not punishment.

@MarkJCarney @PierrePoilievre @gary_srp @LenaMetlegeDiab @AliEhsassi @MelissaLantsman @GarnettGenuis

[UnheardConscripts @UCAN_Advocacy]

This important report by @NegarMojtahedi exposes a deeply troubling contradiction in Canada’s approach to former Iranian conscripts. Hundreds of families are now facing Procedural Fairness Letters (PFLs) over mandatory conscription they had no choice but to complete.

Conservative Leader @PierrePoilievre got it right: “The listing of terrorist organizations was meant to go after the perpetrator, not the victim.��

Yet innocent families, including children, are now facing immense hardship and fear for their safety if deported to Iran, where they could face severe persecution by the Islamic regime.

It is absolutely absurd that victims of the IRGC are left feeling helpless and afraid, while the regime’s actual operatives can benefit from diverted attention and resources.

Canada must ensure that its efforts to combat the IRGC do not punish the very people who have suffered because of it.

@MarkJCarney @gary_srp @LenaMetlegeDiab @AliEhsassi @MelissaLantsman @vincentneilho @CostasMenegakis @MarcDalton @MichelleRempel @BradRedekopp @pfragiskatos

[Mito Komon @MitiComaan]

@IRGCConscripts @AliEhsassi How mr. @AliEhsassi allowed such an intentional misinformation lead to this decision to not exclude innocent forced conscripts from this listing. @MelissaLantsman @timhodgsonmt

[UnheardConscripts @UCAN_Advocacy]

Hi Gazelle jan, we completely understand your point of view and the frustration we all carry because of the regime. We have seen individuals in Canada with clear connections to the regime and the IRGC openly moving around and even organizing rallies in support of the regime, without facing the same scrutiny as conscripts. These individuals have no history of conscription whatsoever.

The point is that we need to look at this issue from another angle: Who benefits when attention and resources are diverted toward the wrong targets?

When conscription is treated as an indicator of IRGC membership, innocent people can become the focus while genuine threats may receive no scrutiny. Anyone who has lived in Iran understands that individuals with powerful connections and privileged backgrounds often found ways to avoid mandatory service. It was ordinary people, without those connections or privileges, who were far more likely to spend two years of their lives serving as conscripts simply because they had no choice.

These same ordinary people are now being unfairly targeted in Canada. These families are not asking for the IRGC’s designation to be removed. Quite the opposite: as victims of the IRGC who endured two years of compulsory service, they have supported and continue to support the designation.

Our concern is about making sure the designation is applied to its intended targets. As a diaspora, we should ensure Canada’s attention remains focused on genuine threats—not diverted toward people whose only “connection” to the IRGC was being forced to serve.

[UnheardConscripts @UCAN_Advocacy]

This is not just a temporary-resident issue. Permanent residents, Canadian citizens, and entire families are now being affected.

Mandatory conscripts were not trusted members of the regime. They did not go through ideological screening or a voluntary hiring process. They were forcibly assigned, used as free labour for menial and non-sensitive tasks, precisely because the regime did not trust them with meaningful authority or responsibility.

Yet years later, people are being treated as though forced service made them willing participants.

Conscription is not membership. Forced labour is not allegiance.

If we stay silent, more families will be torn apart over something these individuals never chose.

@gary_srp @LenaMetlegeDiab @AliEhsassi @kshahrooz @esmaeilion
#ConscriptsAreNotMembers

[Mito Komon @MitiComaan]

We gathered to meet with @gary_srp today to ask for ministerial guidelines to exempt conscripts, but despite prior communication, no one was in the office! #ConscriptsArenotMembers @AliEhsassi
@globalnewsto
@globalnews

[billy @BL2624]

@nkeung Thank you for the supporting on this matter 🙏🏻
#ConscriptsAreNotMembers

[Nicholas Keung 姜巧樂 @nkeung]

Since Ottawa listing IRGC as a terrorist entity, officials have begun flagging individual Iranian applicants 4 inadmissibility. But the mass notifications against conscripts as IRGC members have some worry the broad-brush approach is capturing the innocent
https://t.co/Tlc6NOkSLu

[Soroush @subtle_vision]

Gazelle,
I don’t think we disagree on the need for individual assessments.

The real problem begins when compulsory conscription itself is treated as evidence of membership.
In practice, former conscripts are presumed to be members unless they can prove otherwise. That effectively reverses the burden of proof. Compulsory service in Iran involves no ideological or political screening. Simply being assigned to an organization through mandatory service cannot, by itself, establish membership, loyalty, or support. Yet that is precisely the misconception that is increasingly being applied.

Your concern about the regime exploiting loopholes is understandable. However, that concern would only be relevant if anyone were advocating removing the IRGC’s terrorist designation or creating a blanket exemption for everyone who served. That is not what the affected former conscripts are asking for. On the contrary, they overwhelmingly support maintaining the IRGC’s terrorist designation while distinguishing genuine members and operatives from people who were compelled into temporary service without any choice.
The certificate of completion of compulsory service is an official doc confirming that a person fulfilled a temporary legal obligation, not that they became a member of the organization to which they were assigned. Whether someone had prior Basij affiliation, voluntarily sought IRGC placement, or maintained any affiliation before or after service should absolutely be investigated. That is entirely reasonable. But those questions should be answered based on evidence of the individual’s conduct, not merely on the fact that they completed compulsory service. The same standard should apply to everyone. A person with prior Basij affiliation or ideological ties could just as easily be a bank employee, a manager of a company, or hold any other civilian position. Such affiliations should be investigated based on evidence, not presumed simply because someone completed compulsory service.

Unfortunately, we have already seen inaccurate and biased narratives promoted by some self-described political activists, and the consequence has been that innocent former conscripts and their families have paid the price. If an organization intends to develop fair protocols on this issue, it should first gather accurate information from former conscripts and build its recommendations on the realities of how compulsory service actually operates, rather than on assumptions. I support thorough security screening for everyone. The goal should be to identify genuine security risks based on actual evidence of affiliation, conduct, or support, not to treat compulsory service itself as proof of membership. (See the following tweet)

Finally, I would encourage you to engage with the broader Iranian diaspora in Canada as well. They have first-hand knowledge of how conscription operates in practice and can provide valuable context and insight.

[billy @BL2624]

@kshahrooz @NegarMojtahedi Conscript IRGC member. Mandatory conscription must not be treated as voluntary membership. Innocent people who were compelled to serve should not be punished for a system they never chose.
#ConscriptsAreNotMembers
#JusticeForlranianConscripts

[Kaveh Shahrooz کاوه شهروز @kshahrooz]

This piece by @NegarMojtahedi is really important.
As someone who campaigned for years for Canada's terror listing of the IRGC, I'm left deeply frustrated by the policy's implementation. We had been *repeatedly* assured that conscripts -- innocent young men forced to serve in the IRGC as part of their mandatory military service -- would be exempt from this listing.
The Trudeau government then listed the IRGC in a hurry (to be competitive in a byelection in a riding with a large Jewish population; which they lost) without addressing this issue. Again, we were assured that the law would be interpreted to exempt conscripts. That has not happened in practice.
Lives are now being destroyed because this exemption hasn't been adopted. Families are being torn apart. It's inexcusable. What makes it most frustrating is that it's not a difficult problems to solve.
I hope @MarkJCarney will address a problem his predecessor ignored.

https://t.co/jKYLgiD1i1

[Nahiid @nahiiiiid3]

The truth matters. IRGC conscripts deserve to be heard and helped.

@LenaMetlegeDiab @gary_srp @SeanFraserMP @FrankCaputoKTN @SeanCaseyLPC @BardishKW @adamchamb
#JusticeForIranianConscripts #ConscriptsAreNotMembers

[billy @BL2624]

@NegarMojtahedi Thank you for hearing us Negar jan.
Canadian government must reconsider in their guide line regarding this matter. Forced conscription is not membership.
#ConscriptsAreNotMembers

[Nahiid @nahiiiiid3]

@NegarMojtahedi Thank you Negar Jan for being our voice! We really appreciate your support. #conscriptsAreNotMembers

[Mahboob @mahboob_24k]

@NegarMojtahedi Thank you Negar jan. Thousands of families have been affected. We need a guidance distinguishing between conscripts and members to stop this unfair approach @LenaMetlegeDiab @gary_srp @PierrePoilievre @AliEhsassi @GarnettGenuis @CostasMenegakis @MelissaLantsman @vincentneilho

[UnheardConscripts @UCAN_Advocacy]

Thank you, Negar jan, for hearing the voices of innocent families and seeking clarity on this issue.

This is an important opportunity for the Conservative Party to scrutinize the Liberals’ claims of taking action against the IRGC. The Iranian Canadian community has seen far too many cases where the consequences have fallen on victims of the IRGC rather than its actual members.

Innocent families deserve fairness, due process, and humanity- not to be punished because of circumstances beyond their control.

@gary_srp @LenaMetlegeDiab @vincentneilho @CostasMenegakis @MelissaLantsman