Iranians in Toronto: A Complex Community

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TORONTO 000093

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CAN, NEA/IR
HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHDC

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL IR KISL CA
SUBJECT: Iranians in Toronto: A Complex Community


1. (U) Summary: The Toronto area is home to a large and
well-established Iranian expatriate community that has steadfastly
held on to its Iranian identity. Nevertheless, the Iranian
community is far from monolithic. It is divided mainly into two
factions that clash over differing views about the current Iranian
government. Older exiles - who tend to be vehemently against the
Iranian government - often are hostile toward those they perceive to
be supporters of the current regime. That said, contacts in the
community tell us that because of emotional ties to Iran, for most
Iranian-Canadians, an easing of international sanctions against Iran
would be viewed positively. End Summary.


2. (U) The province of Ontario is home to 55,905 Iranian immigrants,
according to the 2006 Canadian Census, with 121,505 respondents
nation-wide claiming Iranian ancestry. 46,255 Iranian respondents,
live in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) - over 80% of Ontario's
Iranian population and 38% of all Iranian immigrants in Canada.
Over 14,000 Iranian immigrants arrived in the GTA between 2001 and
2006, adding a significant growth spurt to the Iranian population in
Toronto.


3. (U) The Toronto area's Iranian community has kept a strong
cultural identity, is quite secular, and is very well established.
In the city's North York suburb, where the majority has settled, one
can find a large number of businesses such as grocery stores,
restaurants, travel agencies, bookstores, and other services
catering to the Iranian community. There are also a number of
Farsi-language journals, magazines, radio, and television programs.
Toronto has a handful of popular Farsi-language weekly newspapers
and publications, as well as a number of popular blogs read by
Iranians here and around the world. (Note: About 66% of people in
Ontario who claim Iranian ancestry speak Farsi as their primary
language, according to the 2006 census.) The Farsi-language media
mostly covers issues related to Iran and maintaining the Iranian
identity in Canada. At the same time, community members are
beginning to participate in local politics. In 2007, Reza Moridi
was elected to the Ontario provincial legislature as a Liberal for
the northern Toronto city of Richmond Hill - the first
Iranian-Canadian to be elected to public office.

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Clashes Between Two Factions
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4. (U) In the 1980s and 1990s, the first significant Iranian
expatriate community began to develop in Canada as a result of
outward migration following the Iranian revolution in 1979. A more
recent wave of immigrants arrived in the past decade. These
separate migration periods define the two major groups in the
Iranian-Canadian community: those who arrived as political refugees
and consider themselves exiles, and those who immigrated in recent
times for economic reasons. The first-wave "exiles" tend to
vehemently oppose the current Iranian government, while the newer
immigrants are more ambivalent about the regime, causing discord
between the two groups. In another key difference, many in the
first wave of immigrants have not returned to their homeland in
decades, fearing persecution, in contrast to newer immigrants, for
whom travel to Iran is more routine. However, some in the "exile"
community are beginning to travel to Iran and are finding that they
are able to visit family members and friends without problem.


5. (U) There are also tensions between exiles and a third group -
wealthy Iranians who travel to Toronto frequently. This group is
comprised of Iranian elites who invest heavily in real estate in
Canada in order to diversify their wealth. They also send their
children to colleges and universities in Ontario. Because this
group tends to follow Iranian social rules even when visiting
Toronto (e.g. wearing head coverings),members of the exile
community often consider them to be closely tied to the Iranian
government.

-------------- ---
Dislike for the Supporters of the Current Regime
-------------- ---


6. (U) Reaction to the arrest of well-known Iranian-Canadian blogger
Hossein Derakhshan in Iran in November 2008 is an example of the
animosity that the exile community feels towards those it perceives
to be supportive of the current Iranian government. Derakhsan, who
in the past few years had been supportive of Iran's nuclear program
in his blog, was arrested under suspicion of spying for Israel and
is still in custody. When news broke of his arrest there was little
public outcry or organized effort to persuade the Canadian
government to intervene for Derakhshan. In fact, some fellow
Iranian-Canadian bloggers went as far as to say that Derakshan's
situation was comically ironic. In contrast, when Ramin
Jahanbegloo, an Iranian-Canadian academic was arrested in 2006, the
community mobilized to pressure the Canadian and Iranian governments

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to release him. Jahanbegloo was released after four months in
custody.


7. (U) More recently, there was community anger in March 2009, after
Iranian vice-president Rahim Mashaei visited Toronto to give a
speech on Iran's nuclear program, as part of a broader trip to
Canada. The event was not widely publicized and invitations were
only sent out to a few members of the community. According to our
contact - a director of a local Farsi-language weekly newspaper -
approximately 80 people attended the event. Our contact was not
invited to the event, and in fact, only found out about it the next
day. As news of the vice-president's speech got out in the
following days, the newspaper received phone calls from members of
the community who were angry that the event took place in Toronto.
Had the event been publicized, it could have drawn hundreds of
people for anti-Iranian government demonstrations, our contact
estimates.


8. (U) Comment: Cultural and social ties between Iran and the
Iranian community in Toronto remain quite strong. Newer immigrants
maintain close contact with their families in Iran. At the same
time, older immigrants are finding that visiting their homeland is
not as difficult as they had thought it would be. As old family
bonds are rebuilt and immigration from Iran continues, the ties
between Iranian-Canadians and Iran promise to get stronger. To that
end, members of the community have told us that there is general
support for the loosening of sanctions against Iran and an opening
up of Iran - a support that seems motivated mostly by personal and
family reasons.

BYSFIELD