There are growing concerns from Iranian-Canadians who say they are being threatened, monitored and even followed at protests and outside their homes by affiliates of the Iranian regime who are here in Canada.
“They know the view out of my apartment. They said it was a school. That I have three cats. They knew the friends that have come to my house,” said Maryam Shafipour, an Iranian activist who now lives in Canada and who is speaking out against the regime despite the dangers.
Last year, members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard — a branch of the Iranian forces designated as a terrorist organization in the U.S. — took that information about her life back to her sister in Iran, Shafipour said, and used it to try to threaten her family and lure her back to the country.
“After that I just cut my relationship with all my friends because I’m really scared,’ said Shafipour. “I am just isolated now.”
Shafipour has reason to be afraid. She once spent two months in solitary confinement in Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison for “spreading propaganda against the system” — the same prison where Mahsa Amini was held. Amini’s arrest on Sept. 13, reportedly for not following Iran’s strict dress code, and death in detention has sparked months of major protests inside and outside Iran.
Last week, for the first time, CSIS confirmed that it is investigating “several threats to life emanating from the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
But Shafipour and other activists told CBC News they’ve had no help from Canadian police or government officials and don’t feel like the threat here is being taken seriously.
Bahr Abdul Razzak, left, checked Maryam Shafipour’s phone for spyware at Citizen Lab on Nov. 2, 2022. Her phone has not been hacked, but Citizen Lab found nearly 35 attempts to change her Instagram password and 18 efforts to trick her into changing her Gmail credentials. (Turgut Yeter/ CBC)
Concerns of digital spying
Shafipour’s not the only one who has been monitored in Canada.
In 2021, the FBI publicized details of a plot to kidnap Iranian-American activist Masih Alinejad from her home in New York — part of that report revealed plots to kidnap three unnamed people here in Canada.
The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran even hired private investigators in Brooklyn, N.Y., and in Canada to spy on Alinejad and four other dissidents, according to court documents.
Shafipour is worried the Iranian government hacked into her phone. Curious if there was indeed spyware on her phone, Shafipour sat with experts at Citizen Lab, a cybersecurity lab in Toronto that helps human rights activists under threat of digital espionage.
Activist Maryam Shafipour describes how she’s been surveilled
Shafipour, who has been in Canada since 2016, has limited her contact with her sister and friends since learning about the surveillance.
She said she’s grateful someone took her seriously, adding Canadian authorities hadn’t looked into her case at all.
“We know for a fact that they [Islamic Republic] have extensive technologies that enable them to drill right down into people’s personal mobile phones, know where they are, with whom they’re communicating with,” said Ron Deibert, director of Citizen Lab.
“It’s common actually for people in your situation to have agents or people who are sympathetic to the government within Canada follow them around, maybe try to intimidate them,” he said.
Threatening texts
It’s not just high-profile activists like Shafipour and Alinejad who feel in danger; others with no public profile believe they are no longer safe to publicly criticize the regime. Two people spoke to CBC News on the promise of anonymity due to fears for their safety and the safety of their families back in Iran.
They say they have received threatening calls and a text message to cell phone numbers that were supposed to be private.
The messages warned them to stop posting on social media and speaking out about Iran.
“I have so many family members living in Iran and I love them. I don’t want anything to happen to them,” said the woman who received a text in Farsi. The text was identical to another one sent to activists and journalists in Iran several years ago.
It warned her that speaking with “the enemy” abroad through “email … or other communications” was criminal and would lead to prosecution, also stating “It’s crucial for you to disconnect and this SMS is the last security warning.”
The other person, a young man, received a series of phone calls from blocked and local Canadian numbers questioning why he had posted negatively about Iran on social media — using accounts that were private.
“He repeated himself multiple times and I was terrified and I dropped the call,” said the man.
Iranian-Canadians say they tried to get help from police after threats
Two Iranian-Canadians, who are remaining anonymous, say they went to police with concerns after receiving threatening calls and a text message, and were told by police there was nothing they can do.
Even more frightening, the caller addressed him by name. He doesn’t know how either he or his number were found.
Both feel they have been watched at protests with people in the crowd using their phones to take pictures of their faces. They believe that information is then sent back to the Iranian government.
“I feel terrified,” the man added.
These two young Iranian Canadians went to police and say they could not get past reception. They claim they were told no one could help them.
“I feel like the police, whether in Toronto or anywhere in Canada … wait until someone dies and then they will do something,” said one of them.
CSIS investigating ‘several threats’
CBC spoke with others who had similar stories and who say they have been to police, the RCMP and even CSIS without hearing back.
When asked by CBC News about the rise in Iranian dissidents receiving threats in Canada, the RCMP said in a statement they believe the problem “is growing” but said they can’t quantify it as they believe it is still underreported.
CSIS has acknowledged they are monitoring the situation, announcing for the first time last Friday they are investigating “several threats to life emanating from the Islamic Republic of Iran”.
Members of the Iranian community gather in Toronto to protest Mahsa Amini’s death, in this photo from September. (Darek Zdzienicki/CBC)
“Canadians are not getting how serious this issue is,” Ardeshir Zarezadeh said.
Zarezadeh, an Iranian-Canadian who once spent two years in solitary confinement in an Iranian prison, believes the regime’s presence in Canada is growing, causing distress and confusion in his community.
“They [the Iranian regime and its affiliates] have businesses here. Non-governmental organizations. Houses. They are everywhere. And everyone knows it,” he said.
The RCMP never responded to my messages. What’s wrong with the government? Why are they not taking action?– Ardeshir Zarezadeh
Zarezadeh said a couple years ago, a member of the regime showed-up at his Toronto legal offices after calling to make an appointment from a payphone. He was denied an appointment but showed up suddenly anyway, catching Zarezadeh in the lobby.
“He asked to speak to me for my legal services, I told him I was in a rush, but I felt nervous immediately, ” Zarezadeh said.
Zarezadeh said he quickly ended the conversation saying he had to go and that the man left.
“I met so many intelligence officers when I was in Iran. I was arrested 12 times. So many of them interrogated me, so I know how they behave, talk, react.”
Ardeshir Zarezadeh at his legal office on Nov. 22, 2022, where he previously came face to face with an Islamic Republic operative known to the FBI. (Ousama Farag/ CBC)
He immediately contacted the FBI who confirmed to him that the visitor was a known threat and a top regime operative, and warned him to be very careful.
He says after calls to the RCMP over the matter, they have not followed-up with him.
“The RCMP never responded to my messages. What’s wrong with the government? Why are they not taking action?
Zarezadeh has taken matters into his own hands. He’s compiling a list of names and addresses of known regime affiliates here in Canada and is prepared to make that list public as well as sharing it with the government and other intelligence agencies.
“I don’t feel safe in Canada. I am constantly watching my back, I bring people with me everywhere I go because who knows any day now I could get a knife in my back,” Zarezadeh said.
CBC News asked the federal minister of public safety about the lack of police response. We are still waiting for an answer.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
