The Trudeau government was booed and a Liberal MP abruptly left while cursing at a major Iranian Canadian event held in Toronto this past weekend. The For Iran event at Scotiabank Arena was a replacement for the traditional joy-filled festival to celebrate Nowruz, the Persian New Year and to mark the arrival of spring.
With unrest in Iran and continuing protests since the death of Mahsa Amini last September, the event took a sombre tone. Amini was killed by Iran’s morality police for not wearing her Hijab properly just days shy of her 23rd birthday.
The killing sparked protests across Iran, with women waving or burning their hijabs in the air, but not wearing them. Those protests also sparked a brutal response from the regime in Tehran that saw many more beaten, tortured, raped and executed.
The event on Saturday night attracted politicians from across the political spectrum and all levels of government. In addition to Iranian-Canadian politicians like Liberal MP Ali Ehsassi and Ontario MPPs Michael Parsa and Goldie Ghamari — both part of the Ford government — others came to give speeches.
Premier Doug Ford spoke on behalf of his government, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre spoke as well. Defence Minister Anita Anand gave remarks on behalf of the government.
When Iranian-American journalist and activist Masih Alinejad gave a fiery speech at the event against the regime in Iran, things turned dark for the Liberals at one point. The Trudeau government has been under pressure to list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist group, something the United States and some other countries have done, but that Ottawa has refused to do.
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Alinejad, who has spoken to Trudeau about this, called him out for dragging his feet on the issue.
“Four years ago, I was here, in Canadian Parliament and I asked Justin Trudeau and his government, to put the Revolutionary Guard on the terrorist list,” Alinejad said.
“They didn’t and what happened, the same Revolutionary Guard killed 176 innocent Iranians and Canadians. It’s your fault, Justin Trudeau!”
She was referring to Flight PS752, the flight that was shot down on Jan. 8, 2020 by the IRGC, killing everyone on board.
The flight was filled with 138 people heading to Canada, including 57 citizens, plus permanent residents and visiting international students. The incident shocked the Iranian community and the world and put a chill on relations between Iran and Canada.
As Alinejad blamed the Trudeau government, video taken at the time and posted to social media, shows Rob Oliphant, the Liberal MP for Don Valley West and parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, standing up and leaving. It’s not just that Olphant is seen as abruptly leaving, it’s the way in which he did and what he is reported to have said.
“I’m not putting up with this s***!” Mark Wallace, a man seated near Oliphant, reported him as saying.
Wallace, the CEO of a group called United Against a Nuclear Iran, a bi-partisan and not-for-profit think tank in Washington, said the comments were, “beneath him and the Canadian government.” On Twitter, Wallace added that he had hoped to meet and speak with Oliphant, but only met him as he stormed out cursing.
“Respectfully, he should apologize and have a dialogue with those who quite reasonably demand that Canada sanction IRGC terrorists,” Wallace tweeted.
Oliphant’s office was contacted for comment and sent a lengthy reply that didn’t address the words he is alleged to have said.
“Mr. Oliphant would like to reiterate that he stands with, and has always stood with, the brave women and men, girls and boys of Iran as they fight for democracy and human rights,” his office said.
The response went on to detail many of his engagements with the Iranian community before saying that Oliphant, an ordained United Church minister, needed to prepare for the next morning.
“Having spent three hours in solidarity with the community, he left at 11 p.m. to go home to finish writing a sermon for the next morning,” the response said.
Oliphant’s demeanour as he left would easily lead a reasonable person to believe he did say those words, that he was upset, and that his departure was about more than needing to finish a sermon. Definitely not the actions one would expect of a government representative.