A new citizen petition, sponsored by the Conservative Party’s Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman, calls on the government to investigate and deport all agents of the Islamic Republic operating in Canada and pass new laws banning the glorification of terrorism, along with hiking fines against vandalism targeting religious institutions.
Daniel Pinsk, an 18 year old, put forward the petition, aiming to expel IRGC agents in Canada in an effort to protect Canada’s Jewish and Iranian populations amid escalating attacks on both.
In an interview with Juno News, Pinsk pointed to weeks where there were back-to-back shootings targeting synagogues and Iranian-owned businesses, stating that even the Toronto Police Chief Myron Dimkew said guns for hire could be used by the Islamic Regime through proxies in Canada.
“I don’t want to specifically say the recent shooting in Belleville was one of those opportunities, but I’m — What I do want to say is that there are criminals for hire that are connected to the IRGC,” he said. “This should be nonpartisan in a sane world. Taking out terrorists should be nonpartisan.”
The petition submitted to the House of Commons in September currently has just over 30 signatures, but Pinsk hopes that even if it doesn’t move the federal Liberals to take the issue of antisemitism seriously in Canada, he hopes that it can keep up the pressure for them to take action and prevent future terrorist attacks.
The petition calls on the Government of Canada to “immediatly investigate, deport and publish an update on the 700 suspected IRGC officials” living in Canada.
It also calls for the feds to “Heighten the security screenings surrounding immigration and refugee applications, while not infringing on Canadians’ privacy rights” and to “Work with provincial and municipal governments to improve security measures and precedents around vulnerable events and places of worship (specifically but not limited to synagogues)”.
The petition also calls on Canada to “finally condemn anti-Zionism as the modern form of antisemitism” and “protect Jewish Canadians and Canadians as a whole against further terrorist attacks” allowed by the current government.
It also calls on the federal government to pass two private members' bills currently on the floor in this parliamentary session.
Pinsk said that Bills C-257 and C-255 should be passed to ban the willful promotion of terrorist groups and to give harsher penalties for mischief targeting religious institutions such as synagogues, respectively.
“I have a charter right for freedom of religion, but that isn’t stopping me from having to walk through metal detectors just to pray. Freedom of speech is the most important, right,” he said.
He said promoting listed terrorist groups that have kidnapped and killed Canadians is “not free speech,” it’s “inciting hatred and violence.”
The petition also calls for Prime Minister Mark Carney’s “Ministerial Advisory Council on Rights, Equality, and Inclusion” to be replaced with a “house special committee on terrorism and hate crimes.”
“This is not what Jewish Canadians want,” he said, referencing Carney’s council made in an effort to stop antisemitism in Canada. “The liberals have shown that they don’t stand with Jews. They banned imports from Judea and Samaria, and they don’t care about Jewish lives.”
Pinsk said the Liberal Party of the 90s would be more likely than the current government to stand with the Jewish and Iranian diaspora today and kick agents of a terrorist regime out of Canada.