Ghamari Leads Moment Of Silence In Legislature
By Manotick Messenger Staff
It was a moment at Queen’s Park when silence said more than a thousand words.
Carleton MPP Goldie Ghamari called for a moment of silence for all Iranians who have been tortured and murdered by the terrorist regime over the last 43 years in that country.
The day marked the 40-day anniversary of the killing of 22-year-old Mahsa Jina Amini, who was killed by Iran’s morality police for not wearing her hijab properly. The incident sparked protests and demonstrations around the world. Ghamari, who is the first Iranian-Canadian woman ever elected in Canadian politics, has been front and centre of the protests in Ottawa and Toronto. Many Iranian-Canadians from Ottawa, including Barrhaven and Riverside South, which is in Ghamari’s riding, attended the protests.
Ghamari was one year old when she arrived in Canada with her family. Her father, an electrical engineer, had just survived a roadside execution attempt in Iran and decided to move his family to the safe haven of Canada. The family arrived with one suitcase full of clothing and $50 cash.
“Mr. Speaker, 40 days ago, on September 16, 2022, a young 22-year-old Iranian Kurdish woman, Mahsa Jina Amini, was brutally murdered by the morality police of the terrorist and illegitimate Islamic regime in Iran. Since then, the brave people of Iran have been protesting—protesting 43 years of a brutal dictatorship,” Ghamari said in her member’s statement.
Ghamari added that the same dictatorship shot down Ukrainian Flight PS752 nearly three years ago. Fifty Canadians died in the crash, including a handful of local residents.
“Hundreds if not thousands of Iranians have been arrested, murdered, tortured and killed by the brutal and terrorist illegitimate Islamic regime in Iran,” Ghamari added in her statement. “For Iranians mourning someone’s passing, the 40th day is incredibly significant. And it’s not just Mahsa Jina Amini’s family that is mourning; all of the people of Iran are mourning. Iranians around the world are mourning, and the world is mourning with them. There are nation-wide strikes happening, and while pro-Islamic regime lobby groups like the Iranian Canadian Congress have tried to apologize for the regime, the world has opened its eyes.”
Ghamari has been giving interviews to media outlets in Ottawa, throughout Canada, and around the world in the past month. She says it is important to give the oppressed people of Iran a voice.
“The regime has shut down the Internet to prevent the voices of the people of Iran from being heard,” she said. “But they are asking the world for one simple thing: to be their voice, to share their stories and to make them heard.
“I have several hundred constituents in my riding who, just like me, are of Iranian origin. Today, I want to let the people of Iran know that they are not alone in their fight for freedom and democracy. Here in Canada, we are blessed to live in a free and democratic society. The people of Iran deserve the same.”
