Definitely. As I mentioned, Iranian women were the first casualties and probably the greatest losers of the Islamic Republic. There is essentially a gender apartheid system in place in Iran. Women's clothing is regulated. Their movements are regulated. Sexism and essentially misogyny are the rules of the land.
However, how Canada can help these groups is... What I would like to ask you here is to frame Iran not simply from the perspective of its relationship with the United States: either as an evil terrorist or as a victim of imperialism. Iran, as is any other country, fifty shades of grey. So there are organic movements, democratic-seeking movements that are shaping up in the country, as well as the IRGC and the Quds Force.
So there is that conflict and contrast, and we need the democratic world, we need Canada to first and foremost recognize that and understand those different shades.
Another issue, which I think my colleagues and other witnesses here pointed out, is that many descendants of the IRGC and the offspring of the ruling elite in Iran live here and essentially use the resources brought over from that country here—resources that can be used in the country for those people. We need Canada to take a better look, a more serious look, at that and to acknowledge that.
We also need support in terms of media. We all know that as soon as an activist or a cause gets to media and gets that kind of attention, both on social media and traditional media, the regime oftentimes has to back out.
If I were to summarize, I would say that at this point, we really need Canada to understand that Iran is fifty shades of grey and there are democratic movements going on and to acknowledge that the resources of the country are being illegally brought to Canada. We need help with recognition of these movements in the media and elsewhere.