Please see the posted court orders on the page linked below, especially the Sep 14, 2020 order of Justice Hainey pertinent to the 2019 AGM and Election which will be held on Sunday Dec. 13, 2020, online. 

2019 AGM and Election Page

Once again, the Trump administration has targeted the rules-based international order with unilateral actions that are contrary to international norms. The Trump administration has unilaterally announced that all UN Security Council resolutions against Iran, waived after the signing of the Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA), have been reimposed.  

All other UN Security Council members including Canada’s European allies (UK, France and Germany) have spoken against this interpretation of the Trump administration and have declared that resolution 2231 is still in effect and international sanctions are not reimposed. 

In the past four years, the Trump administration has demonstrated its disregard for multilateralism and the rules-based order. Trump’s latest actions in the Security Council can not only further exacerbate the tensions with Iran leading to another catastrophic military conflict but also destroy the legitimacy of the United Nations and the Security Council. 

Canada rightly supported the nuclear deal with Iran, lifted its sanctions in compliance with UNSC resolution 2231 and provided assistance to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to conduct inspections that are part of the agreement with Iran. 

Therefore, we call on the Trudeau government to support the efforts of Canada’s European allies to preserve the non-proliferation agreement with Iran and to encourage all parties to engage in diplomatic negotiations to end devastating sanctions on the Iranian people. 

Moreover, Iran is one of the most severely impacted countries with the global pandemic. According to Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Centre, as of today over 422 thousand people in the country have been infected with COVID-19 and over 24,300 Iranians have lost their lives. According to credible reports by international organizations and UN investigators, the US sanctions have severely impacted Iran’s ability to fight the pandemic. We call on the Trudeau government to use all diplomatic means and international platforms to ensure that Iranian people can access medicine and medical equipment at this crucial time.

Find below, in French and English, a letter from the ICC's President Soudeh Ghasemi to the Government of Quebec opposing their proposed changes to Quebec's PEQ (Programme de l’expérience québécoise/ Québec Experience Program) immigration program. The proposed changes to the program will not only harm the lives of countless international students and workers, but also harm Quebec's ability to gain access to much needed skills that will be required in the post-pandemic recovery.

Read below:

Adressé aux honorables premier ministre du Québec, M. Legault, et M. Jolin-Barrette

Je vous écris en tant que présidente du Congrès irano-canadien, une organisation à but non lucratif, non partisane et non religieuse défendant les intérêts de la communauté irano-canadienne.

Nous voulons vous exprimer notre vive inquiétude face aux récentes réformes proposées par votre gouvernement sur le (PEQ), un programme d'immigration qui offre aux étudiants internationaux et aux travailleurs étrangers temporaires déjà au Québec, une voie vers la résidence permanente au Canada. 

Nous voulons exprimer notre opposition aux réformes annoncées du PEQ qui ont été proposées par votre ministre de l'Immigration, de la Francisation et de l'Intégration, M. Simon Jolin-Barrette, pour les raisons suivantes.

Nous croyons qu'en imposant les critères d'admissibilité obligatoires pour postuler au PEQ à 12 mois d'expérience de travail à temps plein et en limitant les professions admissibles, votre gouvernement met en place des obstacles inutiles pour acquérir le statut de résident permanent au Québec. Cela affaiblit non seulement l'économie du Québec, mais discrimine également particulièrement les employés à temps partiel et ceux qui tentent de contribuer et de s'intégrer à la société québécoise.

Nous croyons qu'en instaurant ces réformes, qui n'incluent aucune forme de protection pour les étudiants et les travailleurs internationaux déjà au Québec, le gouvernement du Québec décourage de nombreux étudiants et travailleurs qui ont déménagé dans la province en supposant l'accessibilité actuelle du PEQ, et rend la vie de beaucoup de ces résidents extrêmement précaire, surtout au milieu d'une urgence de santé publique et économique. Compte tenu des circonstances actuelles, on peut se demander comment rendre la résidence du Québec peu attrayante pour les étudiants et les travailleurs internationaux pourrait être justifiée, économiquement ou autrement.

D'un point de vue humanitaire, il est également évident que ces réformes indiquent un mépris total pour la vie et les moyens de subsistance des nombreux étudiants internationaux qui paient des frais de scolarité extrêmement élevés et de tous les travailleurs étrangers temporaires, en particulier ceux qui travaillent sous les niveaux professionnels C et D dont le travail est directement lié à la stabilité économique du Québec.

Bref, nous croyons que les réformes proposées exercent une pression indue sur les travailleurs et les étudiants internationaux, tout en décourageant l'immigration au Québec faute d'un avenir productif dans la province.

Ainsi, nous aimerions que vous mettiez un terme complet à ces réformes et instauriez des réformes facilitatrices, plutôt que le contraire, à l'obtention de la résidence au Québec par les étudiants et les travailleurs internationaux.

Soudeh Ghasemi,

Présidente

Congrès Irano-Canadien

****ENGLISH TEXT ****

Addressed to the Hon. Premier of Quebec Mr. Legault, and Mr. Jolin-Barrette

I am writing you this email as the President of the Iranian Canadian Congress, a non-profit, non-partisan, and non-religious organization advocating for the interests of the Iranian-Canadian community.

This letter expresses our concerns about the recent reforms proposed by your government onto the (PEQ), an immigration program that offers international students and temporary foreign workers already in Quebec a pathway to Canadian permanent residency. 

We want to express our opposition to the announced reforms to the PEQ which has been proposed by your Immigration, Francisation and Integration minister, Mr. Simon Jolin-Barrette, for the following reasons. 

We believe, by enforcing the mandatory criteria of eligibility for applying to PFQ to 12 months of full-time work experience, and by limiting the eligible occupations, your government puts forward unnecessary barriers for acquiring permanent residency status in Quebec. This not only weakens Quebec’s economy, but also discriminates especially against part-time employees and those who are attempting to contribute and integrate into Quebec society.

We believe that by instituting these reforms, which fail to include any kind of protection for international students and workers already in Quebec, the Quebec government discourages many students and workers whom moved to the province under the assumption of the present accessibility of the PEQ, and makes the lives of many of its residents extremely unstable, especially now that we are in the midst of a public health and economic emergency. Given the present circumstances, one wonders how making Quebec-residency unattractive for international students and workers could possibly be justified, economically or otherwise.

From a humanitarian standpoint, it is also evident that these reforms indicate total disregard for the lives and livelihoods of the many international students who are paying extremely high tuition fees, and all temporary foreign workers, especially those who are working under the occupational levels C and D whose labour is directly related to Quebec’s economic stability. 

In short, we believe that the proposed reforms exact more undue pressure on international workers and students, while discouraging immigration to Quebec for want of a productive future in the province.

Thus, we would like you to stop these reforms entirely and institute reforms making it easier, rather than harder, for international students and international workers to obtain Quebec residency.

Soudeh Ghasemi

President

Iranian Canadian Congress

The Iranian Canadian Congress (ICC) is proud to join hundreds of academics, experts, and civil society activists who signed this open letter that calls for an end to US sanctions on Iran during this global pandemic. Find below the letter. You may also find it at this link.

This week, confirmed infections of the rapidly spreading COVID-19 surpassed 586,000 worldwide and global deaths rose past 26,800 as the outbreak continues to spread across the Middle East, Europe, and North America. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), worldwide deaths have tripled while global cases have more than doubled in the past week.

Iran is among the hardest-hit countries by the pandemic, with over 2,300 deaths and 32,000 cases of infections from the COVID-19. It is also the only country that is dealing with this level of cases while living under severe economic sanctions.

In 2018, the Trump administration imposed unilateral sanctions on Iran and implemented a policy of maximum pressure after withdrawing from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in violation of the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231.

While on paper the US administration has provided humanitarian exemptions in its sanctions regime, reports from Iranian civil society, international aid organizations, and human rights groups including Human Rights Watch, show a different reality on the ground as US sanctions, including banking restrictions, have severely impacted Iranians’ access to medical equipment and essential medicine.

In recent weeks, the United Kingdom, Russia, China, and Pakistan have asked the U.S to ease sanctions on Iran during this unprecedented global pandemic. Meanwhile, the Trump administration has ignored these requests and instead have imposed even more sanctions on the country.

We believe that it is not only unjust to leave Iranian people alone in this global crisis, but is indeed a violation of Iranians’ inalienable rights to health and access to medical care. Furthermore, we believe that this pandemic is a shared global threat and it could only be defeated when all countries and people come together and support one another.

Therefore, we, the undersigned, call on all members of the United Nations Security Council to act in compliance with international law and UNSC resolution 2231 and to support Iranian people in their fight against this global pandemic.

We also urge the US lawmakers to pressure the Trump administration to immediately lift all sanctions that are impeding Iran’s response to the outbreak, including financial sanctions.