I don't believe I took myself off, but in any event, thank you very much, Madam Chair.
I would like to speak in favour of the motion. It has five points, which I believe are compelling.
The first point is to “[d]esignate the IRGC as a terrorist entity under the Criminal Code and expel an estimated 700 Iranian agents operating in Canada”.
Point blank, why are these people still here? These are not people who love democracy. They're not people who love Canadian values. In fact, they abhor Canadian values. Here we are, essentially sitting on our hands. The House of Commons voted on this long before I arrived. I understand that sometimes the wheels of Parliament turn slowly, but this isn't a wheels-of-Parliament issue. This is a will-of-government issue. The Prime Minister could move and act tomorrow. He doesn't. This is a Prime Minister who, in my view, is loathe to act when he should. Let's not forget that, not long ago, he spoke on social media about a missile from Israel striking a hospital. I don't believe he ever apologized for that. Perhaps I'm wrong. Someone can raise a point of order if I am incorrect on that.
In fact, I don't know that I've ever seen the Prime Minister apologize for anything he's ever done himself. No, he's apologized for a lot of other people, but he's never apologized for things he's done. I suppose he had to apologize for his ethics breaches.
When it comes to something like this, you should be owning it. I don't see him doing that on a fairly regular basis—kind of like someone else to the south who doesn't like to apologize either. It's an interesting comparison, given questions we've had in the House of Commons of late.
I am also reassured by the fact that Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Sweden and the United States have designated the IRGC as a terrorist entity. I'm aware of the connections between the IRGC and Hamas. We all know what happened on October 7. That is unacceptable anywhere, at any time. I would think that all Canadians would say that the attack on innocent civilians, some of whom were children, some of whom were at a concert that was promoting peace.... The IRGC, we're told, had a role in that.
How can we possibly say that these people remain welcome in Canada? It is mind-blowing that officials from the IRGC remain here in Canada. Again, we have police stations that are reportedly being operated by foreign governments to intimidate Canadians. Again, nothing is being done. This isn't a matter of the wheels of Parliament turning slowly. This is a matter of political will being non-existent, despite the fact that we, as parliamentarians, expressed the will of Parliament, in a 2018 vote and in subsequent votes, for this to happen.
I'm utterly puzzled. I would love for somebody who has been here longer than me, preferably somebody from the government.... We have very capable people here who represent the government. I'm asking rhetorically, but, you know, somebody else can tell me. Maybe Mr. Maloney can. He's a wise guy. Perhaps he can tell me.
When I said that he's a wise guy, I didn't mean that in the.... Anyway, I'll just move on. He's a wise man.