Please find attached the letter that the ICC's Public Relations and Communications Chair Tayaz Fakhry wrote on behalf of the Iranian Canadian Congress responding to an opinion piece published by Michael Petrou on CBC's website . 

Global Affairs Canada states its position that Bill S-219 (Non-Nuclear Sanctions Against Iran Act) would hinder the re-establishment of diplomatic relations with Iran.

Over the past 9 months our team at the Iranian Canadian Congress (ICC) has proved its ability to professionally and effectively advance the interests of the Iranian Canadian community and advocate on your behalf in Canada’s highest institutions. Through our public consultation process, we determined that the lack of diplomatic relations between Canada and Iran and the negative effects of sanctions on Iran are major problems for our community. We have launched multiple advocacy campaigns to raise awareness about these problems, mobilize grassroots support, and to demand policy solutions from our elected officials.

• In the past 6 months the ICC has conducted multiple interviews and have published several opinion pieces about Canada-Iran relations to highlight the importance of diplomacy with Iran.
• The parliamentary petition launched by the ICC urging the Government of Canada to re-establish diplomatic relations with Iran collected nearly 16,000 signatures from across Canada.
• We have met with government officials, and connected with several Members of Parliament from different political parties to inform them about our demand for renewed relations between Canada and Iran.
• We presented our position regarding Iran-Canada relations at the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee and argued against the “Non-Nuclear Sanctions Against Iran Act”, which in our belief is proposed in the Senate of Canada to derail the re-engagement process between Canada and Iran.

Why do we need your financial support?

The Iranian Canadian Congress relies on the energy and passion of its volunteers. With the help of these volunteers we have been able to keep our operation expenses at minimum. However, for us to run professional and effective advocacy campaigns we need access to greater financial resources. Lobbying organizations that are working to block Canada-Iran relations have significant financial capacity. Your financial support will enable us to do our best and to effectively advocate for your interests in a professional fashion. Specifically we need to spend money on the following items:

• Improving Our Public Relations and Communication Channels: we have made significant progress in the last 6 months in building up our PR capabilities, but to communicate our message widely to the Iranian Canadian community across Canada we need to spend money on advertising and marketing services, including professional online applications that can significantly help us in our communication efforts. Our advertising dollars will be focused on digital media and our local community media in major Iranian Canadian populated cities.  
• Acquiring Professional and Expert Advice: to keep our operation lean and cost effective we have leveraged the knowledge of our policy advisors and have conducted our research and analysis in-house through our hard working policy associates. However, to take our work to the next level and run more effective campaigns we need to acquire expert opinion regarding our advocacy work. For example, we are looking into hiring a reputable legal firm with specialization in Canadian sanction laws and regulations to provide us with expert analysis and advice on Bill S-219, the Non Nuclear Sanctions Against Iran Act, and other bills like it. 
• Organizing A Day of Action in Ottawa: we are in middle of discussions with Senators and MPs to organize A Day of Action Against Bill S-219 and to promote diplomacy with Iran on Parliament Hill. We will spend some of the funds we raise from our members and supporters to plan, prepare and facilitate this Day of Action in Ottawa. 

Any amount of donation is much appreciated. Please donate generously.  

Use the online form on this page to process your donation using your credit card. If you encounter any technical difficulties, please email us at [email protected] Note that by making a donation you are also registering as a member of the organization. ICC members are the owners/shareholders of the organization and have voting rights during the Annual General Meetings. If you do not wish to join as a member, simply send us an email and we will make sure that you only remain as a donor and not a member. 

ICC and Majid Jowhari went to Vancouver for the first time on the 10th of December 2016 to discuss multiple local and national issues of Iranian Canadians. 

ICC managed to set up its first local in Vancouver (2nd populated city in terms of Iranian-Canadians) during and after this event.

To Watch the full video please click on this link by Parvaz TV and to read the full written report please click here.

.برای دریافت متن فارسی اینجا را کلیک کنید

On the anniversary of Canada’s decision to cut diplomatic ties with Iran the ICC President, Bijan Ahmadi, has submitted a formal electronic petition to the House of Commons on behalf the Iranian Canadian Congress (ICC) with the unanimous approval of the Board of Directors asking the Government of Canada to re-establish diplomatic relations with Iran and facilitate the reopening of the embassies in Tehran and Ottawa. The ICC has worked on the preparation of this formal request with MP Majid Jowhari (Richmond Hill) and the petition is formally sponsored by him. 

Diplomatic rapprochement at this point will not only assure that Canada stands in solidarity with its allies, many of whom have started re-engaging with Iran after the signing of the nuclear agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action last year, but also will bolster Canada’s historical role of advancing peace through diplomacy and constructive engagement. We encourage all Canadians as well as members of the Iranian Canadian community who support peace and diplomacy to sign this petition and share it with their networks. 

This petition is open to all citizens and residents of Canada. 

Click here to read ICC's full statement published on September 7, 2016.

Click here to review and sign the formal e-petition to the House of Commons.

Click here to review a step-by-step guideline for signing the e-petition.

How can you help?

1. Sign the e-petition: Click here and sign the petition using the e-petition platform on the website of the House of Commons. Note that your info remains confidential according to the rules of the House of Commons and wont be disclosed publicly. 
2. Share the news with your network: Share the following link with your network and ask them to sign the petition: www.iccongress.ca/irancanada 
3. Join our team as an advocate in your local area: Join ICC as a local ambassador to advocate for re-establishing Canada-Iran relations in your local area. Click here to join our team as an ICC Ambassador.  
4. Follow ICC on social media:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/iccongress

Twitter: www.twitter.com/iccongress

Telegram: telegram.me/iraniancanadiancongress

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/iranian-canadian-congress-icc-/

Click here to sign the formal e-petition to the House of Commons.

.برای دریافت متن فارسی اینجا را کلیک کنید

Here is a joint statement from ASL19 and the Iranian Canadian Congress:

Interview with CTV News about Prof. Hoodfar`s release and Canada-Iran relations. 

چطور میتوانید به ما برای اطلاع رسانی در رابطه با درخواست نامه رسمی به پارلمان در رابطه با تجدید روابط ایران و کانادا کمک کنید؟

Here is ICC's quarterly progress report from ICC President, Bijan Ahmadi:

A brief report about the meeting between ICC representatives and Parliamentary Secretary Omar Alghabra on :