Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand said Wednesday it’s her “understanding” that Iranian soccer officials saw their permission to enter Canada revoked ahead of the FIFA Congress in Vancouver.
“It’s not my personal lead, but my understanding is that there’s a revocation of the permission. It was unintentional, but I’ll leave it to the minister to point,” Anand said when asked concerning the situation on her way into query period.
Tasnim, an Iranian news agency related to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said Iranian Football Federation president Mehdi Taj and two other Iranian officials were denied entry because of “inappropriate behaviour of immigration officials” at Toronto’s Pearson Airport.
The net news outlet Iran International first reported that Taj had been granted a visa on Monday and that he had been faraway from Canada late Tuesday evening because of his connections to the IRGC, a listed terrorist entity in Canada.
Conservative immigration critic Michelle Rempel Garner credited that reporting for Taj being denied entry to Canada and said she’s left to wonder if he would have been capable of enter Canada without it.
“How did the guy get on a plane? He’s an Iranian regime official, like, clearly documented. I believe an easy Google search would have told them that,” Rempel Garner said after query period.
“So it’s either gross incompetence or something worse. And the federal government’s going to must answer for that because there’s a whole lot of members of the diaspora who’re persecuted by regime officials.”
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Rempel Garner said she’s “flabbergasted” that Taj managed to get to Canada in the primary place and doesn’t know why the immigration minister hasn’t spoken publicly concerning the situation.
An emailed response from Immigration Minister Lena Diab’s office said all visa applications are reviewed on a case-by-case basis by trained officials.
“While we cannot comment on individual cases because of privacy laws, the federal government has been clear and consistent: IRGC officials are inadmissible to Canada and don’t have any place in our country,” said Taous Ait, Diab’s press secretary.
“Now we have taken strong motion to carry the IRGC to account and can proceed to accomplish that, while protecting the protection of Canadians and upholding the integrity of our immigration system.”
When asked about Taj at a Toronto press conference Thursday, Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said he couldn’t talk about specific cases because of privacy laws but individuals with ties to terrorist organizations will not be welcome in Canada.
“Members of the IRGC will not be admissible to Canada, they’re not welcome in Canada. There are a variety that, as you’re aware, we’re attempting to remove, we may have them removed expeditiously. But let’s make no mistake, IRGC members will not be admissible, nor are they welcome here in Canada,” Anandasangaree said.
The Canadian Press has reached out to the Canada Border Services Agency and the Iranian Football Federation for comment.
CBSA data shows that as of March 5, about 17,800 visa applications have been reviewed for inadmissibility because of connections to the Iranian regime.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has cancelled 239 visas and 174 investigations had been opened by the CBSA. Of the finished cases, 79 involved individuals who were found to not have links to the Iranian regime that might lead to them being deemed inadmissible.
Thirty-two people have been deemed inadmissible by the CBSA for his or her connections to the Iranian regime. The agency says 20 of those cases shall be sent to its immigration division for hearings.
Three individuals who were the topics of accomplished hearings were deemed inadmissible and were issued deportation orders. Just one has been removed.
Five people weren’t declared inadmissible and the CBSA says it’s appealing 4 of those rulings.
— With files from Dylan Robertson in Ottawa and Kathryn Mannie in Toronto
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