I came to Canada over 30 years ago with my parents and siblings—immigrants from Iran via Turkey. I left my homeland in 1985, six years after the country fell into the iron grip of the Islamic Republic occupying Iran. I have never returned. Not because I didn’t want to—but because I can’t. The country of my birth has become a prison. And I carry that exile with me every day.
When we arrived in Canada, we were filled with gratitude. This country was a sanctuary—a land of peace, dignity, and freedom. We didn’t just come here to escape tyranny; we came to build a new life and become part of a nation we believed in. And we did. We worked. We integrated. We contributed. We were proud to call ourselves Canadian.
But the Canada I once knew—the one I trusted to protect those fleeing oppression—is slipping away.
What we’re witnessing isn’t just a change in policy—it’s a deliberate unraveling of the identity, security, and moral backbone of this country. The deep sense of Canadianism—rooted in liberty, rule of law, and national unity—is being erased one compromise at a time.
There was a time when immigration was principled and responsible. People were carefully vetted, welcomed in sustainable numbers, and encouraged to adopt Canadian values. There was mutual respect—an understanding that freedom came with responsibility.
Today, the borders are wide open. Millions arrive, many with no intention of integrating, and in some cases, bringing ideologies and allegiances that clash directly with the freedoms this country was built on.
This isn’t bigotry. This is a warning. And those of us who fled tyranny know the signs better than anyone.
Because the danger isn’t just cultural—it’s operational. It’s organized. It’s here.
Canada has been infiltrated by the proxies of the Islamic Republic occupying Iran. Regime-aligned mosques, “cultural centres,” student associations, charities, and lobby groups operate openly. They serve as the eyes, ears, and long arms of a regime that exports terror, censorship, and fear.
These are not community groups. These are foreign policy tools of a theocratic dictatorship.
They monitor Iranian-Canadians. They intimidate. They defame. They attempt to silence.
I’ve lived it. I’ve been threatened. I’ve been followed. I’ve been physically attacked. I’ve had to defend my name, my work, and my safety while Canada’s institutions looked the other way. I fled the regime in 1985—but its shadow followed me here.
Evin Prison never really let me go. It just changed continents.
And now, I no longer feel safe—not in Tehran, and not in Ottawa.
This is the reality of transnational repression—when the regime you fled finds you again, not through smuggled spies, but through charitable tax status, institutional alliances, media enablers, and political silence.
Canada once stood tall as a defender of freedom. But since 2015, something broke. Under the guise of “diversity” and “multiculturalism,” we’ve allowed foreign regimes—like the Islamic Republic—to plant deep roots here. Instead of safeguarding liberty, we’ve offered sanctuary to those who work to dismantle it from within.
I lost Iran in 1979—to the Islamic Republic occupying it.
And I lost Canada in 2015—to those who welcomed its agents with open arms.
But I will not be silent.
Canada is still my country. And I will fight for it the way I have always fought for the people of Iran: with truth, with courage, and with unwavering clarity.
You cannot coexist with a regime that thrives on terror.
You cannot safeguard democracy while appeasing those who seek to destroy it.
And you cannot call yourself a free country while dissidents live in fear—not from the regimes they fled, but from those regimes’ reach within your borders.
Enough appeasement. Enough cowardice. Enough lies.
Canada must choose:
Will it remain a sanctuary for the persecuted—
or become a playground for their persecutors?
I did not survive the Islamic Republic to be silenced in the land I call home.
I will not bow to foreign agents in Canadian clothing.
And I will not watch silently as this country surrenders its soul under the banner of fake tolerance.
Multiculturalism must never be a Trojan horse for tyranny.
Canada must wake up—before the country we once knew is gone for good.
By Shabnam Assadollahi
July 28, 2025