Ghamari ‘Disappointed’ With Ford’s Decision to Remove Her From PC Caucus
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has removed Carleton MPP Goldie Ghamari from the Progressive Conservative Caucus.
The announcement was made after the Premier’s office received thousands of emails in a campaign from various Muslim groups, including the National Council of Canadian Muslims. The NCCM sent out a statement thanking Premier Ford, and to its membership for sending thousands of emails calling for Ghamari’s removal. Ghamari accepted a virtual meeting with Tommy Robinson, a British right wing activist accused by the group of spreading Islamaphobia.
Various Muslim groups have been calling for Ghamari’s removal from caucus since the local MPP began speaking out against the September 2022 death of Mahsa Amini in Iran at the hands of the Islamic revolutionary Guard Corps for wearing her hijab incorrectly.
The Premier’s office issued a statement Friday, June 29.
“Today, the premier has made the decision to remove MPP Goldie Ghamari from the Ontario PC Caucus, effective immediately.
“This decision follows repeated instances of serious lapses in judgement and a failure to collaborate constructively with caucus leadership and as a team member.
“While this decision did not come easily, it has become clear that MPP Ghamari can no longer continue in her role within our caucus.”
Ghamari issued an apology the next day saying she did not know who Robinson was when she agreed to speak with him.
She did not speak to the media, but she has posted on the X platform and did issue a statement after the Canada Day long weekend
“I was disappointed with Doug Ford’s unilateral decision to remove me from caucus,” she said in the statement.
“I am a proud Canadian who was born in Iran. My parents fled the Islamofascist dictatorship in 1986 and came to Canada after my father narrowly escaped a roadside execution with his life.
“As the first Iranian-Canadian woman elected to office in Canada, I’m proud to use my personal time to raise awareness and speak to people in Canada and around the world about the terrorist Islamic Regime in Iran, its countless human rights violations, and its very real threat to Canadians in Canada. The recent decision by the federal government to put the Islamic revolutionary guard Corps (IRGC) on the Canadian terror list after the NSICOP found that the Islamic Regime in Iran is one of the main culprits of foreign interference in Canada is proof.”
In her post immediately after the announcement, she wrote that “when one door closes another one opens.”
NDP leader Marit Stiles also called for Ghamari’s removal from Caucus, posting on X that “Ontarians expect their elected reps to stand with them against hate, not cozy up to those peddling it.”
Ghamari has been critical of Stiles and the NDP. Last week she called Stiles and the NDP “anti-Iranian racists” and posted that the NDP “refused to condemn a listed terrorist organization that kills Iranians (including my own family members) and now they’re attacking me just because I was trying to raise awareness about the terrorist Islamic Regime in Iran in my spare time as a human rights advocate.”
She posted a copy of a statement from last Thursday that “Progressive Conservative and Liberal MPPs voted 78-0 to condemn Hamas and confirm Israel’s right to defend itself, as the war between the Palestinian militant group and Israel continues.
“All Progressive Conservative and Liberal MPPs voted in favour of the motion, which was tabled by House Leader Paul Calandra on Monday. The NDP abstained from the vote.”
For the rest of the political term, Ghamari will sit as an independent MPP in the Legislature.
“To the people of Carleton, my office is still open as usual and my team and I will continue to assist you with all your requests, said Ghamari in her statement. “I am still your MPP and I will continue to be your voice at Queen’s Park, as I have been doing for the last six years.
“To everyone who supported my efforts to raise awareness about IRGC terrorists in Canada, thank you. Please rest assured that I will continue to speak out on this issue. I will continue to align myself with and support conservative policies. I am a conservative and that will never change.
“I would like to thank everyone for the hundreds of emails, calls and messages of support. I appreciate you all very much.
“Serving the people of Carleton has been the honour of a lifetime.
“I don’t know yet what the future holds for me, but I am feeling very hopeful and optimistic. I will be taking some time to reflect on my next steps.
“When one door closes another one opens.
“Thank you and God bless Canada.”
Double Standard
In another post on X, Ghamari was critical of the double standard of how Robinson was arrested in Canada, but IRGC and Hamas supporter Firas Al Najim “constantly breaches his bail obligations to dress up in Islamic Regime clothes and threaten politicians like me with zero consequences.”
In November, Al Najim travelled from Toronto to Ghamari’s office in Richmond wanting to see the MPP. She was not in the office, but later in the day he made a video that was posted on Tik Tok calling Ghamari a “racist”, a “crook”, and a “prostitute.” He also accused her of having “mental health issues.”
In September, 2022, the Toronto Star ran a story accusing Al Najim, the head of a pro-Iranian regime and anti-Israeli organization called Canadian Defenders for Human Rights, dressing as an orthodox Jew to get into an event held by the United Jewish Appeal Federation of Greater Toronto to harass an elderly woman who was a holocaust survivor.
A month later, Al Najim was charged for dangerous driving after driving at a high rate of speed toward a crowd that was protesting the IRGC regime. According to a police press release, “the accused stopped the vehicle abruptly, squealing the tires while yelling at the protestors.”
Al Najim was released after spending one night in jail.
Positive Support
The timing of Ford’s announcement came at a time when Ghamari had perhaps her best month serving the Carleton riding.
She recently announced five major school projects, which is unprecedented for the Carleton riding. She fought for and got funding for a French high school in Riverside South, an elementary school in Findlay Creek, a high school and elementary school in Stittsville, and a major elementary school expansion in Richmond.
Less than 48 hours before Ford’s announcement, Ghamari shut down a wetlands mapping plan by the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority that would have seen hundreds of farmers and landowners declared wetlands. Ghamari met with several landowners and farmers and pushed for Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry Graydon Smith to force the RVCA and the South Nation Conservation Authority to hut the brakes on the wetlands mapping plan.
The RVCA went ahead with the open house it cancelled, and told landowners the wetlands plan was “paused”.
According to local farmers and landowners, having their land declared wetlands by the RVCA would devalue their land by about 80 per cent, meaning a parcel of land worth $1.5 million would be worth $300,000 or less after it is designated as wetlands.
With hundreds of farmers and landowners affected by the planned wetlands designation, Ghamari’s supporters say her work in getting Smith to stop the plan potentially protected more than $100 million for the local economy in the Carleton riding.
Tik Tok Star
Ghamari posted over the Canada Day weekend that since she is no longer a member of the PC Caucus, she will be able to reinstate her Tik Tok account n her personal phone. She has close to 275,000 followers. She added that her videos about IRGC terrorists threats in Canada and around the world have had millions of views.
As the first Iranian-Canadian woman elected in politics in Canada, she used her spare time to crusade against the IRGC and make the province and the country aware of the threats that the terrorist organization poses to Canadians. Her work raised awareness in Canada for Mahsa Amini, and was also instrumental in letting Canadians know about the terrorist IRGC regime. She was vocal in pressuring Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to declare the IRGC as a terrorist organization, which he recently did.
Ford’s decision to remove Ghamari from his caucus leaves Ottawa with only one member, Nepean MPP Lisa MacLeod. She began her career as an MPP serving Nepean-Carleton and was succeeded in the Carleton riding by Ghamari when the riding split before the 2018 provincial election.
Featured Image: Carleton MPP Goldie Ghamari enjoys a Canada Day moment with her dog, Baxter.
