Thank you all for being here today.
I can certainly say that in this committee we have looked forward to a study of Iran. We've done a fair bit of study on China and other countries. But when we have an authoritarian type of leader, as we have in that country now, obviously, it's in the news.
Consequently, as parliamentarians, a lot of constituents approach us and are concerned about relatives in Iran. They're concerned about abuses of human rights in Iran. They're concerned about the threats of an authoritarian who could do anything and could take the country to the brink of disaster.
In your testimony, even for the demographics you were making reference to, you mentioned the fact that 70% of Iran's population is under the age of 30. Certainly, when we see the younger generation coming up, I know that in Canada we're looking at the opposite type of demographic, and that's of concern as well.
On the fact that we have so much hope with this new generation coming up, is it hope or are they being led into the philosophy that their leader would have them believe, in which the only way to change is through fundamentalist Islam or militant Islamic action?
What do you think Canada can specifically do to encourage the demographic of the young populace in Iran to take action? How can we engage them from here?
Another question came up when Mr. Cotler or perhaps Madam St-Hilaire talked about a diplomatic embargo. On one side we hear the argument that we shouldn't have any negotiations and we shouldn't talk to what might be the “perceived enemy” in some countries. When we think of North Korea... The United States in particular doesn't want to sit at the table with some of the individuals from Hamas and Hezbollah.
How do we engage a major part of a population by saying we're going to have a diplomatic embargo, we aren't going to talk to your leaders, and we're going to try to somehow coordinate...not a revolt but a huge uprising to make effective change?
How much dialogue should we have with the government, if any? What else can be done to engage the population? Do you see a time when the people are going to overthrow this government? Is it going to be through an election? How bad is the electoral process over there?
I'll just throw out those three questions for you.