Thank you very much for your question.
There are two parts.
What are they up to in Canada? As I said earlier, I provided quite a few links in my testimony, which the clerk will make available to the committee members, of well-documented cases of money laundering, influence peddling and business associations—those who, if they're not IRGC members who have ties with the IRGC, have been involved in in Canada.
I would add parenthetically that this was one of the reasons we suspended diplomatic relations with Iran. It was because their embassy was not doing the things embassies normally do. There was a lot of spying and other kinds of subterfuge taking place in Canada that was certainly making Iranian students and others very uncomfortable.
In terms of timing, I would make a different argument. Iran is the major supporter of Hezbollah. It's the major supporter of Hamas. It is the major supporter of the Houthis in Yemen. It has launched major attacks directly against Israel. It's not business as usual in the Middle East and it's not business as usual in terms of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I think we all know that. We are entering a very dangerous era. One only has to go to our Global Affairs website, which is pointing out that Canadians travelling in not just the Middle East but also France, Spain and other countries of Europe have to be on the lookout for potential terrorist activities and threats that may put them at risk. Well, why is that? It's because of the conflict that has taken a terrible turn in the Middle East.
I would submit that one of the reasons Canada should designate the IRGC a terrorist actor is to close the circle. Is it a perfect fix? No. Is it a difficult call? Yes. I would agree with everything Mr. Horak said, and it's a tough call, but on balance, given the world we're in now, given the fact that this is one way to prevent those with ties to the IRGC from coming into Canada.... There may be sleeper cells here. I don't know, but when you're faced with the kinds of risks that are real, then this kind of action, yes, is symbolically important, and it also says to the government and to officials in government that we have to take this threat seriously.