Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre said Iran’s suppression resembling winter will conclude and freedom like spring will begin if he becomes prime minister. .“It has been a very long winter,” said Poilievre in a Sunday video. .“A 44-year-long winter.” .Poilievre said this long winter has been “filled with a cold, icy, cutting breeze of injustice that has cut through the heart and soul of a great ancient culture, attacking the basic dignity of human beings right across and abroad.” He added the Iranian government has attacked the rights of women and minorities. .In the gatherings that have taken place to protest the Iranian government, he said it is clear this winter is coming to an end. He said the final goal should be a free Iran. .The Conservative leader went on to say the Canadian government has not gone far enough. It is legal for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to operate, raise funds, organize logistics, and run activities in Canada. .Iranian government officials are staying in Canada and enjoying its freedoms. He said Canada must never be a safe haven for these officials. .Poilievre proceeded to lead the crowd in chants of “Kick them out.” He pledged to create a foreign agent registry to monitor anyone who does work on behalf of an authoritarian country to influence politics. .This registry will be created to ensure every one has the freedom to walk the streets without encountering the oppressors they left behind in their home countries. It will allow the Canadian government to identify criminals and send them back. .Poilievre said he would criminalize the IRGC. Additionally, he said his government would maximize sanctions on Iran. .It would work with its allies to isolate members of the Iranian government, freeze their bank accounts, and shut out their commerce. He said he would deprive them of money because it is the lifeblood of their terror. .Poilievre continued by saying he would fight to prosecute the terrorists who shot the plane filled with Canadians out of the sky over Iran. He said justice must be done for them. .What he said the protestors in Iran are doing is jumping over fire. Jumping over fire during Nowruz means purifying people of the poisons of the past, but it involves taking risks. .When people jump over the fire for Nowruz, they risk being burned. He acknowledged many young Iranians have taken the risk of being burned to fight for their freedoms. .He said Canadians should jump over the fire with them. This is because they should support bringing about freedom and liberty around the world..Poilievre concluded by quoting Iranian poet Saadi Shirazi, who said the morning breeze of Nowruz showers the garden with flowers. He asked people “to shower the garden with billions of flowers of freedom.” .“Let us rise up and bring about that beautiful spring, that new day,” he said. .Poilievre stood in the House of Commons in October to grill Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over whether or not the IRGC is a terrorist organization. .READ MORE: 'Yes or no' Poilievre grills Trudeau on whether the IRGC is a terrorist organization.“Is the IRGC a terrorist group — yes or no?” he said..Trudeau responded by saying Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism and Canada is continuing to hold the IRGC to account, “including by putting sanctions on a number of their top leaders to make sure they can't take safe haven or buy property in Canada.”
