Matthews: Should Canada be calling for the overthrow of the Iranian regime?
Executive director, Montreal Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies
I can’t think of any other instance when the Government of Canada has so openly opposed another country’s rulers, as it has done vis a vis Tehran. While Canada has not openly called for the overthrow of the regime, it has pretty much done everything else possible to highlight its opposition to the theocracy that controls the country. Expelling all Iranian diplomats from Canada thereby suspending bilateral relations, hosting a cyber-dialogue at the University of Toronto with the stated aim of communicating directly with Iranians and bypassing the authorities, and just recently suspending all trade, highlights that the Harper Government means business.