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Iranians
Origins
Iranians in Canada come from a country characterized by great ethnic, linguistic, and religious diversity. Flanked by the shores of the Caspian Sea to the north and the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman to the south, Iran shares borders on land with Iraq and Turkey to the west, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Turkmenistan to the north, and Afghanistan and Pakistan to the east.Within its 1.6 million square kilometres live nearly 60 million people. Of these, less than half are Persians (47 percent), followed by Azeris (17 percent), Kurds (10 percent), Guilanis (5 percent), Lurs (4 percent), Mazandarani (3.6 percent), Baluchis (2 percent), Arabs (2 percent), Bakhtiars (1.6 percent), and Turkmen (1.4 percent). Some of these peoples are concentrated in specific areas, such as the Azeris south of the border with Azerbaijan, the Kurds along the borders with Turkey and Iraq, and the Baluchis in the far southeast adjacent to Pakistan.
The terms Iran and Iranian may give rise to confusion. The traditional name of the country was Persia, while the modern-day designation Iran – derived from the Indo-European Aryan tribes who settled the country during the first millennium B.C.E. – was not adopted until the 1930s. As for the adjective Iranian, it is used to describe all citizens of Iran, regardless of their ethnic background. Iranian also refers, however, to a group of Indo-European languages spoken by only some of Iran’s peoples, including Farsi (the language of the Persians), Kurdish, Guilani, Luri, Mazandarani, Bakhtiari, and Baluchi. Although Farsi (Persian) is the dominant language of Iran, it is the first language of only about half of the population. Aside from the Iranian languages mentioned above, also widely spoken are Turkic languages (Azeri and Turkmen) and Arabic.
In contrast to its ethnic and linguistic diversity, Iran is rather homogeneous in terms of religion. Fully 94 percent of the population is Shiite Muslim and 4 percent Sunni Muslim; the remaining 2 percent include Christians (300,000 Armenians and Assyrians) and two religious groups that are indigenous to Iran: the Baha’i (350,000) and Zoroastrians (30,000). (See PARSIS.)
In contrast to many of its neighbours, Persia/Iran has a long tradition of political independence, beginning with the Median and Persian empires that reached their height under Cyrus the Great and Darius in the sixth century B.C.E., followed by the Parthian and Sassanian empires that lasted until the coming of the Arabs in the seventh century C.E. Even though the Persians accepted Islam and were part of the Arabic Umayyad and Abbasid caliphates, by the ninth century they had established local dynasties that maintained the independence of the country until the twentieth century.
In the early 1920s, an Iranian army officer, Reza Khan, gradually took control of the country and in 1926 established himself as Reza Shah, the first monarch of the Pahlavi dynasty. He was particularly instrumental in creating internal stability among the country’s various tribal groups and in gaining greater control from Britain over Iran’s lucrative oil industry. His pro-Nazi sympathies, however, alienated Great Britain and the Soviet Union, and those countries invaded Iran in 1941 and replaced him on the throne with his son, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi.
The new shah of Iran was to rule for nearly four decades, during which he used the enormous income from the sale of oil (Iran possesses 10 percent of the world’s reserves) to modernize the country. He oversaw the so-called “white revolution” of 1962–63, when various reforms were introduced (including giving women the right to vote and hold public office) and the country’s constitutional monarchy was effectively transformed into a dictatorship under an all-powerful shah. The shah systematically imposed Westernization and modernization, but these provoked increasing opposition from various Muslim and secular groups who, in turn, were silenced and often brutally repressed by the government’s security police.
During this period, thousands of religious dissidents were forced into exile, including the Ayatollah Khomeini. In 1979 a revolution broke out which toppled the shah’s Western-backed government and proclaimed Iran an Islamic republic to be governed by the laws of the Holy Koran and the traditions of the Shiite Muslim religion as interpreted by the Ayatollah Khomeini, who returned triumphantly from exile.
The Islamic Revolution plunged Iran into chaos. Thousands of the shah’s supporters were killed or driven into exile; Sunni revolts among the Turkmen, Arabs, and Kurds broke out; the country was isolated from most of the world by a United States–led international embargo; and over 600,000 Iranians were killed during eight years of an inconclusive war with Iraq (1980–88). Since the end of that war, Iran has slowly tried to regain its place within the world community although it still maintains a hegemonic Islamic position which emerged from the Iranian revolution of 1979.
Migration, Arrival, and Settlement
There have been at least two migratory waves of Iranians to Canada. The first, between 1964 and 1978, was part of a broader movement of professionals from the Third World to more advanced, capitalist countries. In the early 1960s, following a rise in oil prices, the shah was able to realize his ambition to modernize the country, thereby ensuring its integration into the Western bloc. Money from the export of oil permitted Iran not only to achieve rapid industrialization, but also to send more and more young people abroad to study at Western institutions of higher education.
As a result of the country’s need for professional workers, an ever-growing number of Iranian families encouraged their children to study abroad. Furthermore, in this period the middle class acquired the means to travel, especially to the United States. According to one estimate, the number of Iranians studying in foreign countries grew from 18,000 in 1963 to 227,497 fourteen years later. Some sources have suggested that by 1979 there were 40,000 to 50,000 Iranian students in the United States alone. The increase in the number of such students and the intensification of repression in pre-revolutionary Iran resulted in a radicalization of the student movement and the creation of the Confederation of Iranian Students, which was active in Canada as well as in the United States and Europe.
The first wave of immigration to Canada was composed primarily of single men and families from professional backgrounds. In these cases, the decision to leave the homeland was made voluntarily. Among Iranians who chose to settle in Canada were those who had married native-born Canadians or who had studied at Canadian universities and remained in this country to work. The immigrants who arrived in the first wave were predominantly doctors and other professionals who had been selectively recruited within the available labour force. Because of their privileged position, these newcomers were able to integrate with relative ease into Canadian society, and, as a result of such factors as the pro-West position of the monarchy in Iran, they did not face racism. They experienced the process of migration as individuals, not as a group, and were therefore not linked in a formal sense through an organization or community.
In the decade following the Islamic Revolution of 1979, however, Iranian immigration to Canada added a new ethnic community to the population of this country. The influx was largely involuntary and was characterized by a considerable number of requests for refugee status. It was linked to socio-political changes caused by the revolution, the establishment of a theocratic state, and the persecution of those groups professing political ideologies different from the Islamic regime. These included certain religious or ethnic minorities and some feminist or women-centred organizations. The majority of progressive forces, including women, had supported the revolution in an attempt to form a united front against the shah and had hoped to resolve their differences after they achieved their goal, but this harmony quickly came to an end once the monarchy was overthrown.
The Islamic state from the very beginning denied any right on the part of those who had participated in the revolution – workers, national minorities, and women, among others – to oppose it, and it supported class, sexual, and ethnic inequality and discrimination in the post-revolutionary era. The Islamization of the country, including repressive measures taken against unveiled women, attacks on the advocates of different political ideologies, and pressure on national minorities that led to civil war in Kurdistan, produced a surge in emigration. Further, the hardships created by the Iran-Iraq War provoked an intense socio-political and economic crisis.
For some migrants, settlement in a new homeland was facilitated by the existence of networks of family and friends who had arrived earlier. In Canada such assistance has been particularly effective. Mutual-aid and information networks have supported dislocated Iranians who have come to this country as students or tourists and stayed in the hope of obtaining immigrant status. In fact, the changes that followed the revolution in Iran created two groups within the second wave of immigration: those who left during the upheaval itself and those who departed later.
The first group was composed primarily of members of the bourgeoisie and individuals who had enjoyed a certain socio-political or economic importance within the old regime, that is, the military, state functionaries, and administrators. These individuals were able to move their financial capital abroad, given the relatively favourable exchange rate of Iranian currency. The second element consisted of members of the urban middle class, who left primarily because of political repression and the Iran-Iraq War. Many of them had remained after the revolution, expecting the political climate to change, but had eventually given up hope. The consolidation of the Islamic regime motivated a large number to leave the country and find a better life abroad. Iran ranked thirteenth among the countries furnishing Canada with immigrants in the years 1985–86, and 10 percent of those seeking refugee status in this period were from that country. In 1983 Iran had been added to the list of countries from which individuals could be admitted on humanitarian grounds.
Since Iran had for a long time been a pluralist society, those groups threatened by the Islamization of the country represented a considerable proportion of emigrants. The Jews, Armenians, Assyrians, and Zoroastrians have been tolerated as “people of the book,” in the words of the Koran. But the same cannot be said of the Baha’is (adherents of a religion founded in the nineteenth century), who are not legally recognized in Iran. Although its roots are Islamic, the Baha’is denied that Muhammed is the final prophet; therefore, they have been subjected to exclusion and discrimination by the state and the Shiite majority and have been the object of severe persecution intended to provoke massive emigration. The Islamic republic has taken measures to locate and identify Baha’is, dismiss them from government jobs, confiscate their property, imprison them, and execute those men and women who insist on maintaining their religious faith. The persecution has pushed Baha’i members of the privileged classes, already familiar with North America through business and other contacts, to emigrate to this continent. Canada adopted humanitarian measures for the Baha’is in 1981 and has offered immigrant status to many of them. The community in this country has been important in the sponsorship of newcomers who failed to meet immigration criteria.
One of the interesting aspects of Iranian migration has been the decision of many women to leave the country, even under difficult circumstances. They have often initiated the departure, taking responsibility for the necessary preparations, risking much in crossing the border, sometimes while they were pregnant or had young children, and leaving behind husbands and family members. Many women have suffered political and economic repression since the establishment of an Islamic republic in Iran. They had actively participated in the opposition against the shah’s dictatorship, but were quickly disillusioned when, after the revolution, they found themselves the first target of the new regime and were forced back into what was defined, in patriarchal Islamic ideology, as their “appropriate place.” Measures taken by the republic to impel women to conform to its particular ideology exacerbated discrimination and oppression on the part of state institutions and the labour market. Their repression after the revolution has had many different dimensions: legal, political, economic, cultural, and social. Those women who did not accept Islamic values, morality, and policies, such as the imposition of hijab (veiling), the effective elimination of women from non-traditional jobs, and their barring from legal practice, were victimized and punished through imprisonment, fines, loss of employment, exclusion from educational opportunities, and public humiliation.
While some women could find ways of resisting the dominant ideology and remained in the homeland, for others the search for a new country in which to settle became the only route to survival. The decision to emigrate was a reaction to restrictions in the public sphere and the labour market in general, cuts in public spending, the closure of childcare facilities, and forced redundancy in the name of “purification.” Over the course of the seven months preceding March 1987, 11,000 people, the majority of them women, were reportedly dismissed from government employment. The situation was especially difficult for educated middle- and upper-middle-class women, who had been gaining increasing access to the public sphere, the universities, and the labour market in the 1960s and 1970s. Such women now constitute a considerable proportion of the Iranian population abroad. If the first wave of migration to Canada was composed primarily of men, the second involved women to a much greater extent.
The second influx was also familial in character, given that immigrants typically left Iran accompanied by children and other relatives. Sponsorship of family members increased during this period, but such endorsement, although important, has not constituted the dominant form of Iranian immigration to Canada, which includes for the most part involuntary exiles (66.9 percent) and refugees (14.7 percent). These two categories have generally been composed of young people and professionals and have been divided equally between men and women. Among Iranians who arrived during the 1980s, 32 percent were refugees, 32 percent independent immigrants, and 15 percent families. Between 1968 and 1979, by contrast, independent applicants made up the majority of all Iranian newcomers to Canada. Unfortunately, data from federal or provincial immigration authorities do not allow us to specify the proportion of subgroups in the Iranian immigrant population. Many religious and ethno-religious minorities have been part of the second wave of migration; for example, a large number of Kurds left Iran, beginning in the 1980s, at a time of hostility and civil war between the Kurdish nationalist insurgency and the Islamic republic. (See ASSYRIANS; KURDS.)
Until the late 1970s the number of Iranians in Canada never exceeded a few thousand. In the years between 1955 and 1976, 2,531 individuals entered this country. From 1977 to 1982, however, the number of arrivals increased dramatically; 4,968 immigrants came to Canada in those years and another 23,216 in the following decade. It should be noted that the numbers include persons who have identified themselves as Iranians (regardless of place of birth), not simply those born in Iran. According to the 1991 Canadian census, 43,210 individuals said that they were wholly or partially of Iranian ancestry. Of these, close to 39,000 claimed Iranian as their only ethnicity, and nearly 31,000 were born in Iran. Of the total number of Iranians (30,715) who entered Canada between 1956 and 1992, 75 percent arrived after 1983.
Any inferences about the size of the community in Canada must, however, be tentative for the following reasons. Some individuals may have been identified by their religious background and not their ethnicity; others may have been in the process of filing for immigrant or refugee status and thus were not included in the official statistics. In addition, there has been a significant movement of Iranians from Canada into the United States, as well as some return migration to Iran (especially during the 1990s). Further, the desire to identify or not to identify oneself as Iranian could change according to political or social circumstances. Hence, the total number of Iranians in Canada may be higher than the official figures suggest.
The distribution of Iranians (single and multiple responses), according to the 1991 census data, is as follows: Ontario, 24,800; British Columbia, 7,815; Quebec, 6,745; Alberta, 2,095; Manitoba, 675; Saskatchewan, 495; Nova Scotia, 280; and New Brunswick, 220. Individuals have tended to leave the homeland without a precise destination in mind. Familiarity with the host country, often the fact of having been a student here, has played an important part in the choice of province in which to settle. Such experience was particularly decisive for men and women who had studied in francophone universities in Quebec. However, the official distribution by province probably does not reflect the actual numbers in each area at any given time because of frequent migration of Iranians within the country. Such has especially been true between Quebec and Ontario and British Columbia, since, as a result of linguistic difficulties, climate, a lack of business opportunities, or job market restrictions, many Iranians left Quebec to settle in the two other provinces. Since English is the second language spoken in Iran, there has been a tendency to prefer the English-speaking parts of the country. Within Quebec, Iranians have concentrated in the bilingual or predominantly anglophone areas.
Iranians in Canada live mainly in the large cities and are dispersed across the residential areas of these urban centres. Demographically, they are diversified with respect to class, gender, and professed ethnicity and religion, and almost all come from an urban background. Class membership has varied with the different waves of migration. Among the immigrants are a considerable number of intellectuals and professionals, who have set the tone for the cultural milieu of the community across North America, as they have in Europe.
Economic Life
While the first wave of immigrants was primarily from the professional class, those who arrived in the second have been mostly concentrated in small and medium-sized businesses. A stereotype of Iranians in Canada depicts them as a wealthy community. It is true that some who left Iran, especially during the Islamic Revolution, had strong connections to world markets and brought with them considerable financial capital, which enabled them to set up businesses after their arrival. On the other hand, most middle- and lower-middle-class immigrants had no access to such capital. They have nevertheless been able to mobilize other means, such as their education or ethnic resources – premigratory experience in business, group identification, credit associations, and community networks – to establish entrepreneurial operations in Canada. In many cases, factors such as the inability to find a professional job, unemployment, and immigration restrictions have determined an orientation towards ethnic entrepreneurship. Membership in an ethnic or religious minority, or even a political grouping, has also been an important resource in economic life. This path has not only ensured rapid integration into the labour market, but also facilitated upward mobility.
In Canada, Iranians are employed in many segments of the economy. Many are concentrated in professional jobs as medical doctors, engineers, nurses, dentists, or lawyers. A considerable number are involved in small entrepreneurial activities, including construction, taxi driving, restaurants, bakeries, dry-cleaning shops, grocery stores, accountancy and taxation, repair shops, computer stores, and publishing. The Iranian yellow pages, which are published in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver, list these activities in the formal sectors of the labour market. Some Iranian women are involved in more informal small-business activities, such as catering, sewing, baking, and providing services for community members or ethnic segments of the market.
The economic success of many businesses contributes materially to evolving forms of Iranian identity through the promotion of such activities as Persian-language journals, magazines, and radio and television programs. Iranian-Canadian businesses cater to the demand for ethnic food, ceremonial objects, works of art, books, videos, and tapes. The fusion of economy and Iranian culture in the case of such enterprises is a striking phenomenon. Many businesses organize social events such as poetry readings and music evenings and are actively involved in the maintenance of community culture. Some journals founded in the mid-1990s are distributed free on the basis of business advertisements, among them the weekly Persian-language newspapers Shahrvand (Citizen; Toronto) and the Iran Star (Toronto). These papers include political, cultural, and sports sections in addition to a considerable amount of commercial material. Funding for some television shows is also provided by Iranian-Canadian businesses. The financial dependency of certain print and visual media upon business has created concern among intellectuals and political activists about increasing self- or community censorship. In Toronto some community members have launched a counter-cultural journal, Rouyesh, without advertisements in an attempt to establish a press that can provide independent political analysis.
Culture and Religion
Iranians have created economic and cultural networks for support and to resist exclusionary practices by the dominant society. Cultural activities have to some extent provided a medium through which they can experience a sense of continuity and survival. These activities are not confined to Canada but are transnational, ranging across Europe, North America, and Iran. A considerable number of journals, periodicals, newspapers, and books are published by and for Iranian immigrants in Canada, the United States, and many European countries. Some of these publications are written in highly scholarly language or from a political or polemical viewpoint, but others are published for mainstream readers. In Vancouver alone, more than half a dozen different Persian-language journals or newsletters are issued on a weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis. They include Dyar (Country), Payvand (Connection), Daftar-e-Shenakhi (Information Centre), Fara-su (On the Other Side), Iranian, and the organ of the Association of Iranian Zoroastrians, Payke-Mehr (Messenger of Kindness).
A number of theatre, dance, and music groups are active in Canada, among them Parva Pop Music, the Atash Dance Group, the Pars National Ballet, Theatre Atelier, and the Soura-tak Theatre Group. Los Angeles, with its high concentration of Iranians, has become the centre of popular culture in North America, and television shows, journals, theatre groups, and music video tapes, along with ethnic food and ceremonial objects, produced in that city are exported to Canada. In Vancouver, for example, the Persian-language television programs Be yade-Iran (broadcast six days a week) and Jam-e-Jam (twice a week) often air shows from Los Angeles, while Nour-va-Nava (once a week) offers productions from Iran. In addition, there are two radio stations, called Pejvak and Sahar, in Vancouver.
On the expanding electronic networks, issues ranging from politics to poetry are discussed. This phenomenon has had an impact upon Iranian society, since cultural and professional networks abroad are able to invite artists, writers, and musicians from Iran to take part. For many of these dislocated artists and intellectuals, the need to survive in a Canadian context has made it impossible for them to maintain any continuity with their life in Iran. Nevertheless, a considerable number of poets, writers, artists, translators, and academics are active in the cultural sphere in this country. They publish in Persian, English, and French and give readings or organize exhibitions. Their work contains themes that are Canadian in their focus (that is, politics, language, landscape, and climate) and is marked by their life experience in different parts of this country.
In terms of religion, those who observe Islam have great difficulty distinguishing between the political aspect, that is, identification with the Islamic state in Iran or Islamist political movements, on the one hand and Islam as a body of religious practices on the other. This confusion, added to the recent demonization of Islamic fundamentalism and the stereotypical identification of all Muslims as fundamentalists, has created a difficult situation for those who adhere to various political or religious interpretations of Islam, such as liberalism, socialism, and the mystic form known as Sufism.
Iranians of the diaspora who refer to themselves as Muslims are not necessarily religious. Indeed, being an Iranian Muslim in Canada can in no way be reduced to a question of faith; rather, it is a form of identification either with an Islamic community having a common culture and history or with a geopolitical region, the Middle East. Many Muslims in Canada practise Islam in private life without attending a mosque or participating in any public gathering, except for certain rites, especially those related to death. Some Iranians send their children to Saturday schools to learn about their faith. However, in recent years Sufi teachings and the practices of ascetic mysticism have become attractive to both secularized and non-secularized Iranian Muslims throughout North America.
Of the religious minorities, the Baha’is are the most cohesive group, although the percentage of members of Iranian background in Canada’s Baha’i centres and assemblies is small. Other religious groups from Iran represented in Canada include Jews and some Assyrian and Armenian Christians.
Community Life and Politics
There are a variety of Iranian cultural associations in different parts of Canada. Some of these organizations have been established in response to specific exigencies. The Centre Culturel Iranien, for example, was created by the community in Montreal to meet the particular needs of Iranian refugees and new immigrants in that city in the 1980s, although it no longer exists. The Iranian Women’s Association, also in Montreal, was started in the early 1990s to create an awareness of the multiple forms of oppression – class, gender, and ethnicity – that women faced and to empower them in relation to patriarchal attitudes within the Iranian community as well as discrimination in Canadian society generally. In addition to group meetings and community activism, the association celebrates International Women’s Day on 8 March and supports work on problems affecting women in Canada generally, such as racism, poverty, violence, social injustice, and inequality.
There has been a certain degree of tension between Iranians who were members of an ethno-linguistic minority prior to their departure from the homeland and those who belonged to the majority Persian speakers. The Iranian media and cultural associations in the diaspora have been criticized for their tendency to focus on the Persian language and to ignore ethno-linguistic differences. In Vancouver, Iranian Azeris and Kurds have their own cultural associations. There is also an organization in that city for Iranian youth called Anjoman-e Javanan North Shore. In Montreal, aside from restaurants, grocery stores, and dance clubs, a Persian-language library, Ketabkhaneh Nima, has been created by community members to provide access to literature, poetry, history, and children’s books.
In terms of political activism, three trends are identifiable among Iranian immigrants. The first is related to the political nature of second-wave migration and is defined in terms of the various groups’ opposition to the Ismalic fundamentalist government currently in power. This opposition does not represent a homogenous political front; rather, its members range from monarchists and nationalists to social democrats and leftists. These groups remain attached to a belief in the possibility of a return to Iran. Accordingly, every event in the homeland is followed with close attention. For many Iranians, return is conditional upon profound political change. Some immigrants have been involved in groups attempting to bring about such change, including the monarchists and the Mojahedin Khalq, a Muslim association that became active in Iran in the late 1960s and that today is opposed to the Islamic republic. These groups’ main political focus is the overthrow of the Iranian government.
The second trend includes certain grass-roots organizations that are trying to create a cultural and political milieu not only in Canada but transnationally by organizing seminars, lectures, and other activities. For many Iranians, participation in political life is not limited to the homeland but is tied to the experience of racism and discrimination in the diaspora. Women’s organizations, human rights groups, and certain Marxists, socialists, and social democrats are all part of this movement. Women’s groups are particularly concerned about the politics of history, identity, culture, and activism. A third category of Iranians in Canada includes a large number who are unengaged politically and who are sceptical about any form of activism. This group is primarily involved in such non-political enterprises as poetry readings, lectures, and New Year’s celebrations. Many events in the calendar, including No Ruz (Iranian New Year), Yalda (the longest night of the year), Char-shan-be-suri (the last Wednesday in the year), and Sizdeh Bidar (the thirteenth day of spring), are observed by all Iranian ethnic and religious groups, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, since they pre-date Islamic influence in Iran.
Intergroup Relations and Group Maintenance
Individual Iranians have faced racism in different areas: in the labour market, through the media, and in everyday encounters with other Canadians. The mass media have played a major role in the production of racist and sexist images. What could be considered a media attack on the Iranian diaspora occurred when American hostages were taken in Iran in the 1980s. It continued during and after the Persian Gulf War of 1990–91 and was part of a general response to the resurgence of Islamist movements in many parts of the Middle East. Reaction to these incidents has reinforced stereotypical racist imagery directed against Iranians in Canada, who have generally been depicted in the media as terrorists or fundamentalists. Images of veiled and apparently subjugated women have also been widespread. Such treatment has motivated some Iranians, most of whom have experienced discrimination in the labour market, to establish ethnic associations out of self-defence. The experience of discrimination, then, has led to the further consolidation of an Iranian community in Canada.
But the new self-consciousness has not emerged without accompanying divisions among individuals and community associations that adhere to irreconcilable political viewpoints. Such divisions, mainly between immigrants of the first wave and those of the second, have been exacerbated by government policy. State-run programs have led to the creation of an ethnic elite through the training of refugees and exiles. Iranian immigrants who received financial assistance from the Canadian government during their first year had access to language courses or professional trainee services aimed at pushing them towards the labour market so that they would become independent as quickly as possible. Those whose status was under review preferred to find work immediately, in spite of their lack of qualifications, in order to demonstrate their willingness to integrate into Canadian society. This experience may have varied for men and women as a result of the sexist attitudes that women faced both within the community and in society generally.
Iranian immigrants who arrived between the 1960s and 1978 integrated into Canadian society as individuals, not collectively. It was only around 1982 that Iranians in Canada began to organize themselves formally as a group. The construction of such an ethnicity has been linked to economic and political circumstances in Iran and in Canada, state regulation of entry into the country, labour market restrictions, the experience of prejudice and discrimination, and the politics of multiculturalism. The notion of exile and the non-voluntary character of recent immigration have made possible a collective identification, leading to the mobilization of ethnic, as well as gender and class, resources. This sense of group solidarity has enabled the community to overcome political and economic problems linked to its immigrant status and labour market restrictions.
The daily life of Iranian immigrants encompasses the shifting boundaries of home and exile, not only between Canada and Iran but transnationally with the United States, Europe, and elsewhere. For many Iranians in this country, it has meant a continuous movement between a local and a global reality and a constant sense of connection to more than one homeland or more than one location in the diaspora. Such a linkage is part of their self-identification; its dimensions are determined not only by individual experience but also by the character of the group, which may include religious affiliation, sexual preference, and gender as well as ethnicity.
Further Reading
A comprehensive history of Iran from classical Persian times to the present is The Cambridge History of Iran, 7 vols. (Cambridge, U.K., 1991), while Shaul Bakhash, The Reign of the Ayatollahs: Iran and the Islamic Revolution (1986), provides a useful overview of recent Iranian history.
There are no comprehensive studies of Iranian immigration to Canada or of the settlement of Iranians in the country. Y. Tareq Ismael, Canadian Arab Relations: Policy and Perspectives (Ottawa, 1984), is a generally useful overview which includes references to Iranians. The brief article “Iran,” in Cultural Profiles, published by the Cross Cultural Learner Centre (London, Ont., 1986), is of some use for an understanding of the group in Ontario.
An anthology that focuses on the experiences of Iranian refugees and exiles since the revolution in 1979 in Turkey, Germany, France, the United States, and Canada is Asghar Fathi, ed., Iranian Refugees and Exiles since Khomeini (Costa Mesa, Calif., 1991). This work includes an article by Minoo Moallem, “Ethnic Entrepreneurship and Gender Relations among Iranians in Montreal, Quebec, Canada,” which examines the experience of immigrant Iranian entrepreneurs in Montreal with specific reference to gender and ethnicity. The same author’s Ph.D. thesis, “Pluralité des rapports sociaux: similarité et différence. Le cas des Iraniennes et Iraniens au Québec” (Université de Montréal, 1989), describes the experiences of Iranian male and female immigrants in Montreal, while her “Gender, Ethnicity and Entrepreneurship,” Quarterly Journal of Ideology, vol.6, nos.1-2 (1993), 43–69, analyses the relationships between ethnic entrepreneurship and gender relations.
M. Fathali Moghaddam, Donald M. Taylor, and Richard N. Lalond, Iranian Cultural Organizations: An Assessment of Services Offered and Community Needs (Montreal, 1986), also focuses on Iranian Canadians in Montreal. Fathali M. Moghaddam, “Individual and Collective Integration Strategies among Iranians in Canada,” International Journal of Psychology,vol.22 (1987), 301–14, is an effort to understand the settlement process. Parvin Tasmani, “Immigration, adaptation et problèmes de santé mentale chez les femmes professionnelles d’origine iranienne au Québec” (M.Sc. thesis, University of Montreal, 1986), is concerned with the settlement of Iranian women. The same subject is addressed by Afsaneh Sabet-Esfahani in “The Experience of Immigration: The Case of Iranian Women” (M.A. thesis, University of British Columbia, 1988).
MINOO MOALLEM
Legislative Assembly of Ontario: Bill 63 2006, An Act to proclaim Nowruz Day on March 21
Bill 63 2006
Official Report on Debates
Bill 63, Nowruz Day Act, 2006/Loi de 2006 sur le Jour Nowruz. Mr. Racco (Thornhill). First Reading February 16, 2006. Second Reading debated and carried February 23. Ordered referred to the Standing Committee on the Legislative Assembly
Bill 63 2006
An Act to proclaim
Nowruz Day
Preamble
March 21 marks the first day of Spring and to Iranians throughout the world it marks the first day of the New Year according to their calendar. Nowruz, meaning "new day", is a festival celebrated with friends and family who together pray for good luck in the New Year. Nowruz celebrates rebirth, renewal and hope. As nearly 100,000 Iranians have come to live in our beautiful province and enjoy new beginnings, it is fitting that the people of Ontario welcome them by honouring Nowruz, the celebration of new beginnings. Therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:
Nowruz Day
1. March 21 in each year is proclaimed as Nowruz Day.
Commencement
2. This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
Short title
3. The short title of this Act is the Nowruz Day Act, 2006.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
The Bill proclaims March 21 in each year as Nowruz Day.
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO / ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L'ONTARIO
Thursday 16 February 2006 Jeudi 16 février 2006NOWRUZ DAY ACT, 2006 / LOI DE 2006 SUR LE JOUR NOWRUZ
Mr. Racco moved first reading of the following bill:
Bill 63, An Act to proclaim Nowruz Day / Projet de loi 63, Loi proclamant le Jour Nowruz.
The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried. The member may wish to make a brief statement.
Mr. Mario G. Racco (Thornhill): March 21 marks the first day of spring, and to Iranians all over the world it marks the first day of the new year. Nearly 100,000 Iranians have come to live in our beautiful province, and it is only appropriate that we honour them with recognition of Nowruz Day.
Thursday 23 February 2006 Jeudi 23 février 2006
PRIVATE MEMBERS'
PUBLIC BUSINESS
NOWRUZ DAY ACT, 2006 /
LOI DE 2006 SUR LE JOUR NOWRUZ
Mr. Racco moved second reading of the following bill: Bill 63, An Act to proclaim Nowruz Day / Projet de loi 63, Loi proclamant le Jour Nowruz.
The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Bruce Crozier): Mr. Racco, pursuant to standing order 96, you have up to 10 minutes.
Mr. Mario G. Racco (Thornhill): I'm very pleased to rise in the House today to speak about Bill 63, which is my private member's bill, An Act to proclaim Nowruz Day.
Before getting into the bill I would like to bring your attention to the members' gallery and welcome some special guests of mine, members of the Persian community. It's still early, so only a few of them are present, but there are more coming. Mrs. Mahnaz Shahbazi and Miss Samin Isaveghlou, welcome.
March 31 marks the first day of spring for Persians all over the world. It marks the first day of the new year, or Nowruz, meaning "new day." Nowruz is celebrated with family and friends and symbolizes hope of new beginnings. Statistics Canada suggests that nearly 100,000 Persians live in Ontario; however, this may be a modest estimate. With so many Persians choosing to live in Ontario, it is only right that we honour their presence and contribution to the cultural mosaic of our province by proclaiming March 21 each year as Nowruz Day.
I would like to share with you a bit of history about the Persian community in our country and in our province of Ontario. Compared to other immigrant groups, Persians are relative newcomers to Canada. As late as the end of World War II, it is believed there were only about a dozen Persians living in Canada. The large influx of immigrants into Canada after World War II did not include any significant number of Persians. Many Persians came to Canada as part of a massive flow of students to North American universities that began after 1965. That was in the United States. Many would remain in Canada after completing their studies and having obtained immigrant status. Following the Iranian revolution in 1979 and the overthrow of the monarchy, and throughout the Iran-Iraq war, the rate of immigration accelerated rapidly.
There are many reasons why people came to Canada: political, economic, educational, professional and religious reasons. New Canadians enjoy Canada's democratic and stable society, free of oppression and violence. Many Persians settled in the GTA, with a significant percentage of them settling in North York in the 1980s and 1990s. It is now believed that 56% of Persian Canadians reside in Toronto, mostly in the Willowdale riding of my colleague MPP Zimmer. Unlike other immigrant groups coming to Canada, there was no established Persian community to help the new immigrants settle into the new culture. These new Canadians quickly joined the professional ranks as medical doctors, engineers, lawyers, nurses and dentists. Many of them had to upgrade their qualifications to meet Canadian standards because they got their education back home. Those who came later chose entrepreneurship, focusing on the creation of construction companies -- we have the largest high-density builders from that community -- restaurants, bakeries, dry-cleaning shops, grocery stores, repair shops and computer stores.
The Persian business community has generously supported Persian identity in Canada through financial means and promotional Persian-language journals, magazines, radio and television programs. Advertising revenue bolsters the production and free distribution of many group publications and programs. The Persian community is extremely active in promoting their culture and Canadian culture. There is a great deal of community support available for new immigrants from Persia as well. They host many events and there are many organization websites, publications and community groups available to the Persian community. According to the 1996 census, there were approximately 64,000 Persians living in Canada, or a 21% increase from 1991. The Persian community is a young one, both in terms of the length of time it has been established in Canada and the age of the members of this community. Only 7% of Persian Canadians are over the age of 60. The largest age group is between 25 and 39. What that means is that there is significant growth within that community today. The 2001 census estimates that 89,000 Persians live in Canada. Now it is estimated that nearly 100,000 Persians are living just in Ontario. The numbers seem not to balance, but that is because there are more members of the community than the statistics seem to indicate. The exact number is difficult to determine, as data collected is determined by country of birth or language spoken. Therefore, the data do not reflect all members of the Persian Canadian community. Over the last decade, Persians have made up between 11% to 20% of the permanent residents from the Middle Eastern region. Ontario has the largest percentage of Persians, which is estimated to be 58%.
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Within the community, Persians are making significant contributions in the area of academia and science worlds. There is a significant number of Persian professors at most, if not all, of the Ivy League schools in North America. There is also a significant presence of scholars, professors, masters and Ph.D.s at York University, the University of Toronto and Ryerson. In fact, I am told that at Ryerson there are 26 Persian professors teaching. That's a huge number.
Probably one of Ontario's most well known members of the Persian community is Mr. Karim Hakim of Hakim Optical. In June 2005, Mr. Hakim was inducted as a Knight of the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Knights of Malta, right here at Queen's Park. Sir Karim Hakimi, as he is now known, was bestowed the honour of knighthood for his generosity and humanitarian efforts. His contribution includes donating hundreds of thousands of pairs of eyeglasses to people in need all over the world. He also has participated in the Ride for Sight for the Foundation Fighting Blindness. Sir Hakimi led Canada's largest motorcycle charity parade, in which more than 1,000 motorcyclists across the GTA raised money for vision research. The motorcycle parade is one aspect of Ride for Sight, which has collected more than $12 million in donations for the Foundation Fighting Blindness, FFB, the only private organization dedicated to finding causes, treatments and cures for blindness. The director of the Foundation Fighting Blindness has said that Ride for Sight has raised more money than any other motorcycle charity ride in Canada.
I thank you for the time. I look forward to the support of all honourable members on Bill 63, An Act to proclaim Nowruz Day. Just before I conclude, let me say that we in this province, in Canada in fact, tend to recognize community members because we feel that Ontario and Canada are a country and a province made from many other nations from so many other parts of the world. I'm one good example. I was born and raised and educated in Italy, but I came here, and today I am in this honourable House. Like me, many other Ontarians and Canadians have had the good fortune of finding this province, this country, as welcoming as it is. We in public office should never forget how important it is to make all of us feel very comfortable where we are, because when we are happy, when we are comfortable, we can do even more than what we are doing.
I have a significant percentage of the Persian community in the riding of Thornhill, and as I said earlier, my friend MPP Zimmer also has quite a sizable percentage. The Persian community is all over the ridings, but those two ridings have the highest number. This community has done so much, not only for themselves but for us, for Ontario, for Canada. By passing Bill 63, we are sending a strong message saying, "We are so pleased that you're part of Ontario, of Canada, and we want to celebrate your heritage, your first day," a celebration that they were born celebrating. Their parents, the people before them, celebrated for so many generations, and we in Ontario should, and I trust all of us will, support this bill, because it means saying thank you to them for choosing Ontario, for choosing Canada as a place to live, to grow, to work, to pay taxes and to be good citizens, because they are. They pay good taxes because they make good money. We should be happy for them that they do well, because when they do well, so do we.
Also, I can assure you that it is a community which respects and loves the laws of this province and this country. I can think of a number of occasions when I saw members of the community participating at functions, participating in the Chief LaBarge events, and in the community at large.
I say to them, thank you for choosing Ontario, thank you for choosing Canada, and I thank this honourable House for supporting the bill.
The Deputy Speaker: Further debate?
Mr. Rosario Marchese (Trinity-Spadina): I'm pleased to support the bill introduced by the member from Thornhill. I want to say that I'll be sharing my time with my colleague from Beaches-East York, who will probably make more anthropological remarks than I will, except to say that this holiday is the most revered celebration in the greater Persian world, and we understand it has been celebrated for 3,000 years. So strong is the support for this celebration that when the theocratic government of Iran came to power in 1979, Nowruz was banned because the government wanted to recognize only Islamic holidays and considered Nowruz a pagan celebration. But we know that the people wouldn't have any of it. It's the most popular holiday in Iran, and most people continued to celebrate it anyway; thus, finally, the government of the day had to lift the ban. We know that this celebration is strongly rooted in their traditions and strongly revered, so we acknowledge and celebrate with them today this most revered holiday.
I also want to extend my acknowledgement to a friend of mine whose name is Mehdi Kouhestani, who is the national representative of the international department of the Canadian Labour Congress and also is the former Ontario CUPE council president. We have known each other for quite some time, and I wanted to, by way of friendship, extend my good thoughts on their celebrations of this holiday. I want to add that, as much as the member from Thornhill would like to celebrate this tradition in a very cheerful, happy way, I know that many of the guests who are here today watching this announcement would like me to talk about something else, and that is the issue of access to trades and professions. We know that many of the people from Iran and the greater Persian world come to this country well prepared academically, that they are very well educated, and when they come here, many of them are not able to get the kinds of jobs they are looking for. I know that Mr. Racco, as he is speaking to some of our guests, is probably telling them how hard he is working to make sure they are able to get the jobs they so desperately want to get. I'm sure that's the kind of communication that's going on while he is there saying hello.
The point is that we on this side of the House, including my colleague Tony Ruprecht, who is very big on this issue -- I am sure that daily in the Liberal caucus, if not weekly at the caucus meetings, he is speaking --
Mr. Tony Ruprecht (Davenport): Hourly.
Mr. Marchese: I'm not sure about hourly -- is speaking to the obstacles that many people who come from the greater Persian world are looking at in the way of getting the jobs that they deserve. And Tony Ruprecht from Davenport is constantly fighting to remove the barriers faced by engineers, nurses, teachers, doctors -- constantly. That is why he is going to stand up here today to celebrate the Liberal accomplishments in this field, with the help of New Democrats, of course, to push him along the way.
We know that we have the most educated taxi drivers in the world, who would love to be able to get jobs as engineers, doctors, nurses and teachers but are not able to. I am sure they want us to talk about that today. It isn't just a matter of celebrating their arrival to the country and that they should be working and paying taxes; it's a matter of making sure, when they come to this country with the greatest of hopes and expectations to be able to land a job, that they ought to get it. The member from Davenport knows full well that many of these people who come to this country are not getting it, because for years he has been fighting on their behalf, and he's going to speak to us about the successes he is having in this caucus to get rid of those barriers.
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While it is true that many who are doctors are getting a little more access to being able to practise -- and dare I say that the reason they are getting some of those doctors' jobs is because the country and the province need them? If it didn't need them, the good regulatory body, which I've criticized from time to time and don't praise enough, would not have broken down some of those barriers to enable them to practise. We need them, therefore the regulatory body says, "Okay, we'll open the door a little bit." But do you think the regulatory boards of engineering have done the same? Tony Ruprecht knows they haven't, and he is lobbying day in and day out to make sure it happens while he's in government. The Liberal government, my God, is so great and so good that the barriers are just coming down day in and day out. We have the most educated taxi drivers, from the Persian world, waiting for the Liberal government to pry those doors open, waiting and waiting as Tony Ruprecht and others in that caucus, Mario Racco included, are just fighting it out in caucus every week, saying, "We've got to do more."
It's about celebrating Nowruz today, yes, but it's about breaking down barriers; it's about making sure that these communities make a little more money so they can pay a little more tax to the Ontario and Canadian governments. Mario Racco is speaking to this. He's going to have two or four minutes at the end of the day to talk about what the Liberal government is doing to make sure that these guests who are here today have better wages and better opportunities at jobs, so they can be better taxpayers here in Canada and Ontario. He'll speak to that in the next little while, I'm sure.
But my friend Mehdi Kouhestani, from the Canadian Labour Congress, released a study that reported that Canadian-born visible minorities faced the highest barriers to steady, well-paying jobs of any group in the country. This barrier is expected to worsen, not get better. Canadian-born Arabs, Persians and west Asians experience a 14% unemployment rate. Canadian-born South Asians experience a 9.6% unemployment rate.
So what do I say to Mario Racco, the member from Thornhill, and others who might be speaking to this? We celebrate Nowruz today, but we would celebrate it more and with greater satisfaction if we knew that we were getting rid of the barriers to their employment and if we knew that they were getting well-paying jobs so they could be happy Canadians.
Mr. Jim Brownell (Stormont-Dundas-Charlottenburgh): It is indeed a pleasure for me to stand today in support of Bill 63, An Act to proclaim Nowruz Day. I certainly commend the member from Thornhill for bringing this forward. I trust that some people would come to the conclusion that, being a member from eastern Ontario, what am I up on my feet for? I have had a long association with history and heritage in my riding -- I'm still associated with three historical societies -- and with that and my work in education, I have always been very happy and excited about promoting not only the old heritages that we had in eastern Ontario but the new heritages that we celebrate in our community.
Eastern Ontario has had a long history of immigration, back to the Scottish, Irish, German, the Loyalist history, joining with the Mohawks who had settlements on the St. Lawrence River in my area and the Mohawk community of Akwesasne, where we still have great celebrations. This summer, I'm going to be attending their powwow. These are the things that we celebrate in eastern Ontario. But as our province has evolved over the past couple of hundred years, we have in recent years welcomed many new and very diverse populations to our community, people of Chinese, Irish, Polish and Pakistani descent.
It was just last Saturday that my wife and I were in the community celebrating with the Italian Canadian sports club, a great celebration where they had a dinner and dance. It was just another opportunity to celebrate with those who, from around the globe, come to our community and bring their cultures. They bring unique traditions with them, they enhance our cultural fibre and they have made our province what it is.
In my area too, the Cornwall and District Immigrant Services Agency has worked very hard to welcome our new Canadians; even those of Persian descent we welcome. In my community too, I look at the Quilt of Belonging. The Persian culture and history was recognized on the Quilt of Belonging, a brainchild of Esther Bryan. That quilt is touring in northern Canada; it is now at Rankin Inlet. I'm happy to say that three constituents from my riding, John and Susan Towndrow and their son Lee, are touring with that quilt and bringing many, many cultures to citizens across this country.
The member from Thornhill's bill will have the same effect that we have with that quilt, with the heritage I celebrate in eastern Ontario, because it will recognize the distinct contribution of Persian Canadians to our province. They have a great culture and they wish to respect and celebrate their traditions here in our province. I laud that. I lauded that for 32 and a half years in my classroom with the students I taught, and I continue to do that as I work for my constituents back home, bringing these celebrations into the community.
Nowruz, the Persian new year, is a festival that traces its origin back over 3,000 years to one of the world's oldest religions, Zoroastrianism. We have a community wanting to celebrate that new year because it really is a time when they celebrate cleansing. It is a time where they celebrate with the spring cleaning of home and person, with fire and with family. This celebration will give thanks to the prosperity of this province, for the work they do in this province, and it will be that new beginning. It certainly is a time of celebration. They have had a new beginning in our province, where they've come into our community and have been excited about celebrating. I certainly laud and thank the member from Thornhill for having the initiative to bring this forward and to celebrate with those of Persian descent.
Mr. David Zimmer (Willowdale): I'm very happy to speak in favour of this. Nowruz means "new day." It's a celebration that I understand has been going on for many thousands of years in Persia. It's always celebrated on the first day of spring. That is significant, because spring, as you know, celebrates renewal. We've come through the winter successfully, people have survived winter, and the first day of spring is the renewal, moving into a new era.
In many ways, Nowruz, celebrating renewal, also speaks to the Iranian experience here in Canada. Let me give you some facts about the Iranian experience here in Canada, because it very much is a renewal for Iranians and very much a renewal for Canada; for Ontario and for Toronto. Ninety-six per cent of all Canadian Iranians are first-generation Iranians here in Canada. 58% of those Canadian Iranians are resident here in Ontario, and of that 58%, 44% of Canadian Iranians live in the city of Toronto or the GTA. I'm very happy to say that in my own riding of Willowdale, in the north part of the city, there is an enormous Iranian community. In Willowdale, as in Toronto, as in the GTA, as in the province and as in the country, the Iranian community has made a huge contribution.
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The vast majority of the Iranians here in Canada are in their prime and productive years, along with their young families coming up behind them. That's very, very significant, because the Iranian community is highly educated -- highly, highly educated. In my experience with the Iranian community that I deal with, there are engineers, doctors, lawyers, scientists, technologists, business persons, medical personnel. Combined with that skill set and their high level of very sophisticated education and training, they are truly leading this city and province and country in a renewal of our society, a renewal of our economy. That's why Nowruz is such an important festival, celebrating renewal of the year.
I want to just refer to this House and get on the record a research article entitled Iranians in Canada: A Statistical Analysis -- some 26 pages. It's prepared by the department of systems and computer engineering, Carleton University, by Professor Garousi. This is worth reading for all of us. It's a very detailed analysis of the Iranian community in Canada, in Ontario and in the GTA. It sets out the facts. We have a lot of conversations and a general anecdotal awareness of the contribution that the Iranian community makes, but this document -- I urge all of you to read it -- sets out the facts of the Iranian contribution.
There are, however, some difficulties that the Iranian community is dealing with, as are other new immigrant communities. It would be remiss of me if I didn't get those on the record. At page 24, the document highlights the two most significant problems that Iranians face here in Canada. Not surprisingly, they are underemployment -- not unemployment, because everybody works -- and underutilization of their professional skills. The document then goes on to analyze the cause of those problems and points out that the cause is largely a lack of recognition of non-Canadian credentials and, again, underutilization of Iranian professionals. I think that's something that needs redressing as we approach Nowruz, which is the renewal of the Iranian contribution to Canada.
Mr. Frank Klees (Oak Ridges): I'm pleased to participate in this debate. I want, of course, at the outset, to pledge my support for this legislation. It is appropriate that we recognize not only the meaning of this important event as it has been over the last 3,000 years -- the principles remain the same -- but in so doing, I believe what this Legislature is doing, more than recognizing an event on a calendar, is recognizing the important contribution of a people who throughout the ages have made such a significant contribution to civilization, to who we are as humanity.
As well, as a provincial Legislature, we have the responsibility to recognize the foundations of our communities and the building of this great province and the building, indeed, of our country.
I look across the floor often in this place and continue to marvel at the wonderful opportunities that this province and this country afford us, because many of us are not born Canadians. Many of us cannot point to generations here, either in the province of Ontario or even this country. Personally, I came to this country at the age of five with my parents, who made a decision, very unselfishly so, to immigrate to this country. My father often said to me when I asked him the question, "Whatever prompted you to make the decision to come to this country?" to leave many of the very stable environments that he had and the family had, it was simply this: "I did it because I wanted more opportunity for you and your sisters." It was a very selfless act on behalf of my parents to make that very difficult step. There will never, ever be any greater sense of appreciation in my heart towards my parents than for that very act that they took to choose to make this province and this country their home.
Many here who now have the privilege of representing our constituencies as members of provincial Parliament are immigrants. I'm sure that in the minds of our parents, when they made the decision to come here, they never dreamed that their sons or their daughters or their grandchildren would ever be in a position of elected office in this province, but here we are and we're grateful, and so we have a responsibility.
I say to the member who brought this forward, congratulations to him for having the initiative and recognizing and honouring the Iranian community through this initiative. Much can be said about the economic initiative of the Iranian community. They are a true entrepreneurial spirit and they are people who know what it's like to work hard. They are people who know what it's like to expect nothing if you don't put something in. You work; you are responsible for your family, for your own self-sufficiency. They are not a people who come forward with their hand out; rather, they are known for people who give a hand up. That is the generosity of the individuals whom I have come to admire and appreciate, both within the community in the broader sense as well as personal friends.
I want to take this opportunity to recognize an individual who has come to mean a great deal to me and who is an example in terms of both business proficiency and success, but someone who has never, ever stopped to consume those successes on himself or his family, but has taken the next step and has shared that success with the rest of the community. I refer to Mr. Farsad Kiani, who has businesses around the world. In fact, I tried to get in touch with him this morning. He's in London, England, today -- as he is, I think, almost on a regular basis, four or five times a month. He travels to the US because in his conglomerate of businesses he has facilities internationally. This is an individual, when you meet him, about whom you don't get a sense of a magnate. Rather, you get a sense of someone who is first of all very human, is someone who cares deeply about the individual he is interacting with, and who also seeks no accolade for the things that he does or his family does within the community.
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I had the great honour a few months ago of being asked on behalf of Mr. Kiani to present awards at York Central Hospital in Richmond Hill, where Mr. Farsad Kiani and Mrs. Joan Bush Kiani have provided an endowment that recognizes and rewards York Central Hospital staff and physicians who regularly demonstrate outstanding examples of great customer service and compassionate care. I had the privilege of presenting the awards on behalf of Mr. and Mrs. Kiani to volunteers within the hospital, to staff members and, I will never forget, especially to one lady. This is someone who worked in the support services of the hospital, and when I presented the award, the lady broke out in tears. It was the first time she had ever been recognized in such a gracious way for the work she has been doing in that hospital. But, you see, it took somebody who understands the importance of contribution to a community to have the sense to actually come forward and institutionalize an award that recognizes that kind of effort.
So I say to the Iranian community, thank you, not only for Mr. Farsad Kiani and Mrs. Kiani, but for the many individuals within the Iranian community who are made of the same humanity and who have the same giving heart and the same compassion that you have brought and instilled into the fabric of our province and our country. We are richer and stronger because of your contribution. In that same sense, I want to pay tribute to someone who has made a significant contribution as well to our province. This is someone whom I met within the context of serving as a member of provincial Parliament, and that is Mr. Jamal Gharavi. He came to this country as a pediatrician and, sadly, was not able and is not able to practise as a pediatrician.
If there's anything as a Legislature that we should do, collectively, in a non-partisan way -- put everything else aside, folks; put away whatever label we may have as a political party, whether we be government or opposition, and let's do one thing and get it right, and that's the issue of foreign-trained professionals: giving them the respect to practise here in this province and in this country. There has been so much discussion and platitude given to this -- and there isn't anyone in this House who doesn't see the injustice of someone having been trained, someone having practised in the medical profession, having operated and performed surgeries for years in their country of origin, and we give them points in our immigration system -- here is the travesty -- for being professionals. When they make application for immigration, they are told at the point of immigration, "Yes, we're going to move you to the top of the list because you are a professional. You're a doctor. You're an engineer. You're an accountant." What does that message give them? That means, of course, that, "If I get high marks when I come to the country, I'll be welcomed and I'll have an opportunity to be the professional for which you gave me all of these points." Not true. These people leave where they are, they come here and they find out that they may as well tear up their professional designation, because we say it's worthless here.
I've said this often tongue-in-cheek, but there's a terrible truth to it: In the greater Toronto area, the quickest way to get a doctor is to call 967-1111. For those who don't know that number, that's the Pizza Pizza number. And it is sad because it's true. We have professionals who are delivering pizzas or driving cabs or working in other occupations when we should be honouring them for the professional contribution they can make. There is no shortage of doctors in Ontario -- none. We have 3,000 doctors in Ontario who are not being allowed to practise, and shame on this Legislature for not taking the initiative and fixing that problem.
Interjections.
Mr. Klees: There are members of the government who are groaning. Now, hold it.
Interjection.
Mr. Klees: No. Don't talk about Mr. Harris. I am not justifying anything that any previous government has done. If we can help -- I'm simply saying that every government has failed on this issue; every government. I take that responsibility, and I'm saying, let's move on. Rather than having this political DNA that seems to be imprinted into every one of our hearts, let's move forward and do something about it. That's what I'm saying. Forget the partisan deliberations about this. But I digress.
Mr. Marchese: Stay focused.
Mr. Klees: I want to stay focused on paying tribute to Mr. Jamal Gharavi, who, as I say, came to practise as a pediatrician but, because he was unable to, he has now focused on a very worthwhile community project. He is now working for Catholic Community Services of York Region and he has developed a program referred to as Focus on Fathers. It's a parenting program that helps fathers become better fathers. What a wonderful calling. If there's any way that we can strengthen our communities, it's to help to strengthen the family. Again, isn't that so indicative of the Iranian community? If there is an example that we can take as Canadians from not just the Iranian community -- I refer to it because that's the nature of the debate today -- it is the respect for family, it is the respect for parents, young people, our pages. If there's anything at all that we should be learning from this debate, it's the fact that strong families strengthen our communities, and it starts with respect -- respect for mothers and fathers and grandparents and respect for each other. That's an example that we have in this wonderful community.
So once again, I commend the member, my colleague from York region, for bringing forward this important bill. You have my support, and you will rightly deserve the honour of the community on whose behalf you have brought this forward.
Mr. Michael Prue (Beaches-East York): I hope that I can do proud my friend from Trinity-Spadina in my anthropological talk here. I told him a little bit of what I wanted to say.
This is an ancient tradition. This is a tradition that not only comes from Persia, not only comes from Iran, but it is a tradition that literally transcends all of the cultures and all of the religions of the world. You see, many religions celebrate this day -- many, many religions -- even unto this time. This is the spring Ohigon and the Kwan Yin day of Buddhism. It is the Shunkei Sorei-Sai day of Shinto -- March 21. It is the Ostara day of Wicca and it is, of course, the Nowruz day for those who come originally from or whose ancestors can be traced through Iran.
Under the Muslim calendar, this is the year 1375, and we will be celebrating that this year. In the old Fasli calendar, it is the year 3744. Just so people know what that is, that is the renewal of the world. That is the day on which Zarathustra received his revelation. It is the day that is held sacred for the creation of fire. It is, of course, a very Iranian holiday; a very Iranian thought.
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It was in ancient times, the first Nowruz, when the whole cycle of life began. The sun, in those days, did not change; it was transfixed in the sky. There was no day and night. There was no male and female. There were no seasons. Everything was transfixed. It was on that first day, that first Nowruz, that, through the sacrifice of plants and animals, all of these things changed. Everything changed: There were days and nights, there were seasons, and the sun did move across the sky every day. It is that which is celebrated. That ancient religion that came out of what is modern-day Iran has literally influenced every single religious thought in at least the western world and probably the entire world.
When we look at what happened and how the celebrations take place even unto this day, there is much in common with the religions that many of us profess in Ontario. It has much in common with Christian Easter. If you look what happens, it is a spring and a rebirth. It is something which we can easily understand, even in a Christian society. I look back with sadness. I think what a different kind of world this may have been had this wonderful holiday and the people who first thought of it survived. One of the saddest days -- except, I guess, if you were a real hero-worshipper of Alexander the Great -- was 334 BC, in which the magnificent kingdom and Persepolis were destroyed. It was there that the faith that brought the first Nowruz was destroyed. There's not much left of that today. You can go and see the archaeological remains, but there's not much left of it. That was a sad day. But do you know something? The celebration of this faith, the celebration of Nowruz, continued beyond the destruction of Persepolis. It persisted up until the time of the Sassanids, it persisted in those who migrated from Iran to India -- and there's a very large Farsi community there today -- and it persists here in Canada, as people have come to this great land. It is, and continues to be in modern times, a 13-day celebration. Can you imagine? Thirteen days. We have the 12 days of Christmas; they have the 13 days of Nowruz. It is a wonderful time when all kinds of celebrations take place. What I think it is most akin to and what we can best understand in terms of our own Christmas celebrations is that this is a time of shopping. It is a time of gifts; it is a time of feasting; it is a time of family and get-togethers. It's a time when money is exchanged: new bills and shiny coins. It is also very much like Easter. It is a time when all of the children get new clothes and wear them. It is a celebration, immensely, of life.
Mr. Ted McMeekin (Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Aldershot): Like your tie.
Mr. Prue: And my tie. My ties are legendary. Hope you like it.
This is a religion, this is a thought that has literally lasted millennia. It is said that it probably started with the Sumerians, and the Sumerians transferred it to the Babylonians, to the Achaemenians, to the Elamites, to the Akkadians and to the Sassanids. It has survived Islam. It is part of the tradition, even in Christian and Farsi households. It is part of the tradition for those who still follow the Zoroastrian faith. It is part of the tradition even in Islamic cultures. Even in times when Islam was trying to do away with this great celebration, it has survived.
I commend the people who are here today and I commend the member who brought this forward, because this is a celebration of life. It is a celebration that is truly and uniquely part of the Persian community, but it is a celebration that all of us as Canadians can interpret, understand and appreciate and all of us should celebrate with every single passion that we can because it is a celebration that life will continue. Even though all of these ancient histories and all of these ancient cultures and religions have come and gone, what has been transfixed, what has remained is this belief in the rebirth, in the renewal, in family, in getting together and in celebrating life. That is what the Persian community has brought to us. I commend you for coming to Canada. I commend you for having the faith to come here and to bring this tradition with you.
As other speakers have said, we need to do more to help new immigrants. We need to recognize the rich history they bring and the culture they bring, and we also need to recognize the talents they have brought. If this bill in any way will do that, then we all must support the bill and we must support the member who brought it. More so, we must support the community that is now an integral part of all things we call Canadian. Happy Nowruz.
Mr. Ruprecht: Congratulations to Mr. Racco, the member from Thornhill, who introduced Bill 63, an Act to proclaim Nowruz Day. Today in the gallery helping us to celebrate this very special event and the passage, I hope, of this bill are Ali Samiian, Mahnaz Shahbazi, Samin Isaveghlou, Simin Isabiglu, Nader Naderi, David Farmani, Alidad Mafinezam, Merdad Hariri, Lily Pourzand, Maryam Aghvami, Behnam Esfahanizadeh, Masoud Mansourzadeh and Mohamed Tajdolati. Thank you for being here today to help us celebrate this special event. This day is obviously very symbolic of a community which has requested this day for many years, and we are here today to say thank you to them for their contribution and also thank you to Mr. Racco. We know that finally, after these many years, this bill has come forward, and we wish to congratulate them.
This is a rich community. In 1946, after the war, the first students began to arrive, and then from 1963 to 1966 we had students come from Iran to join us here in Canada as immigrants. But the main wave came from 1976 to 1985, and consequently the richness of their culture is reflected today in Ontario.
I have, of course, as most members know, written a book called Toronto's Many Faces, and in the book is a very important and very special chapter on the Persian community. I want to very briefly just tell you how rich they really are. Not many of us know the media in this community: Images of Iran is a CityTV channel; the Iranian is the monthly newspaper; there is an Iranian program on Rogers Cable; the Iran Star, a weekly newspaper; Iranian Women; Rasa magazine; Zabran weekly newspaper; and on and on it goes. It's amazing that a community of less than 100,000 would have this kind of media representation. Organizations: the Iranian Community Association of Ontario; the Iranian Women's Organization; the Iran Ethnic Foundation; the Persian Traditional Art and Culture Foundation; and on and on it goes.
But much more important, look at the section of prominent Torontonians. Here is a people, whom those of you who spoke earlier have mentioned, with tremendous contributions. Here they are, less than 100,000 strong, and making a tremendous contribution throughout all the professions.
Yes, there is more to be done, and we made a promise which we are going to keep. But let's look at the prominent Torontonians: Nasser Akmal, owner of Persian Rugs; Shane Bagi, developer; Esanau Isragi, another developer; Sheena Garandazi, composer; Mr. Hakim, who was mentioned earlier; Idi Ghospanian, conductor; Niyam Kazemi, graphic designer; Fred Kazravi, entrepreneur; Dr. Lafti Monsouri, former director general of the Canadian Opera Company; Dr. Asalam Mohajer, recipient of the Roy Thomson Award; Kaza Mohadevi, owner of Iran International Carpet and Rugs; Dr. Fazemi Mortazavi, member of the Immigration and Refugee Board, community leader and philanthropist; Riza Navami, artist and architect; Dr. Seeva Taha, lawyer; and on and on it goes.
They have come here and they have selected this great country. Why? Because the preamble to the Constitution says that this country has the right -- we are fiercely Canadian, but also we have the right, because of this Constitutional preamble, to be proud of our background and proud of our heritage. This is the genius of Canada and this is why so many Iranians and those of Persian background have come to this country. Equality before the law: Wow! That's an experiment that we, you and I and this generation of Canadians, are participating in: equality before the law. The school system: equal treatment of everyone not only before the law but in the schools, with the opportunities they have.
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When we think of what this country has done, when we think of the contribution of Iranian Canadians to Canada, when we think that we are a multicultural country that has an experiment the whole world is watching, then we know Iranian Canadians and the rest of us have developed a great country that we can all be proud of, that all ethnic Canadians and all people from all over the world can come to this country and say, "We have a great country, we have a great culture, and more power today." Congratulations to the Iranian Canadian community.
I want to say thank you for coming today.
The Deputy Speaker: Mr. Racco, you have two minutes to respond.
Mr. Racco: Let me thank all the members in this honourable House who spoke. Because all of you spoke in favour of Bill 63, I trust that we might be able to deal with it quickly, so that this March we will be able to celebrate doubly such an important occasion. It certainly has been a pleasure for me to work with the community. I want to tell the House that my party, the Premier, the honourable Sorbara, the Honourable Smitherman, MPP Zimmer and myself have been in touch with the community quite regularly to make sure that their wishes are reflected in the decision we make in this honourable House.
This community, as has been said, is certainly providing many professionals who are running our hospitals, who are building this city, this region and this province with the best quality residential housing that we can expect. Of course, they are active in almost any industry and profession in our province.
This is a community that has done so much for the province, but also for themselves. I want to say to them, thank you for what you have done, but most importantly, thank you for what you're going to do, not only for you and your families but for the province of Ontario and for Canada. You have provided additional honour to this province. You have been the best that you can be for yourself and for our province, and you deserve all our respect. I believe Bill 63 will go to some little degree to do that, so that together we can celebrate not only your heritage but Ontario heritage, because your community, like my community and our community, is Ontario, is Canada.
NOWRUZ DAY ACT, 2006 /
LOI DE 2006 SUR LE JOUR NOWRUZ
The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Bruce Crozier): We will first deal with ballot item number 19.
Mr. Racco has moved second reading of Bill 63, An Act to proclaim Nowruz Day. Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry?
All those in favour, say "aye."
All those opposed, say "nay."
In my opinion, the ayes have it. Carried.
Mr. Mario G. Racco (Thornhill): Mr. Speaker, I would like to send Bill 63 to the standing committee on the Legislative Assembly.
The Deputy Speaker: Mr. Racco has asked that the bill be sent to the standing committee on the Legislative Assembly. Agreed? Agreed.
Bill 63, Nowruz Day Act, 2006/Loi de 2006 sur le Jour Nowruz. Mr. Racco (Thornhill). First Reading February 16, 2006. Second Reading debated and carried February 23. Ordered referred to the Standing Committee on the Legislative Assembly
Bill 63 2006
An Act to proclaimNowruz Day
Preamble
March 21 marks the first day of Spring and to Iranians throughout the world it marks the first day of the New Year according to their calendar. Nowruz, meaning "new day", is a festival celebrated with friends and family who together pray for good luck in the New Year. Nowruz celebrates rebirth, renewal and hope. As nearly 100,000 Iranians have come to live in our beautiful province and enjoy new beginnings, it is fitting that the people of Ontario welcome them by honouring Nowruz, the celebration of new beginnings.
Therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:
Nowruz Day
1. March 21 in each year is proclaimed as Nowruz Day.
Commencement
2. This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.
Short title
3. The short title of this Act is the Nowruz Day Act, 2006.
EXPLANATORY NOTE
The Bill proclaims March 21 in each year as Nowruz Day.
IRANICA
CANADA, v. Iranian Community in Canada. The immigration records of the organization Statistics Canada for the period between 1896 and 1915 date the arrival of the first Iranian immigrants to between 1901 and 1902 . Although the following year saw a steep rise to forty immigrants from Iran, the numbers fluctuate considerably over the next sixty years, reaching an average of around 100 annual immigrants by 1961 . By 1970, the average had risen to 660, a change that, according to the publications of the Government of Canada, was due to the "massive flow of students to North American Universities that began after 1965," and the fact that many of these students chose to remain in Canada after having completed their studies and having obtained immigrant status. < br> According to the same source, "The earliest immigrants from Iran quickly joined the professional ranks as medical doctors, engineers, lawyers, nurses, and dentists" .
A marked change in the pattern of migration is perceptible after the 1979 revolution. Statistics Canada records reveal that the number of Iranians in Canada increased to 5,000 by around the mid-eighties, and by the mid-nineties it had risen steeply to 60,000. The census records between 1991 and 1996 indicate a 28 percent increase in the number of Persian-speaking Iranians living in Canada, reaching 62,385 in 1996. This dramatic change is attributable to the political climate in Iran after the establishment of the Islamic Republic. The government's persecution of members of the old regime forced former officials, military personnel and supporters of the Pahlavi monarchy to emigrate to Canada. Religious and political persecution, the Iran-Iraq war and the economic devastation that it caused, and the imposition of a strict Islamic dress code for women are all cited as reasons for the migration of educated and professional middle class Iranians to Canada.
Unlike the first wave of immigrants, these later arrivals have mostly joined the ranks of entrepreneurs and owners of private businesses. It is estimated that approximately 12% of Iranians who came to Canada in the nineteen seventies were entrepreneurs and investors. Although countless others left Iran with little economic means, entering Canada as political refugees, they were able to find a niche for themselves in Canadian society. For instance, Iranian immigrants have been found to be involved in "the creation of construction companies, restaurants, bakeries, dry-cleaning shops, grocery stores, repair shops, and computer stores" (Ibid.). The Business Directory of the Iranian Yellow Pages of Canada (an online and continually updated directory) (http://www.iranianyellowpages.ca) lists the following entries: Automotive, Business Services, Computers and the Internet, Education, Entertainment, Finance, Health, Home and Garden, Personal Care, Real Estate, Restaurants, Shopping, Sports and Recreation, and Travel. The most notable examples of successful Iranian entrepreneurs in Canada are the Ghermezian brothers who built the West Edmonton Mall, reputed to be the largest shopping mall in the world, and the Khosrowshahi family, who founded the Future Shop chain of electronic and computer stores. These recent trends notwithstanding, after Germans, Iranian represents the second most educated group of immigrants to Canada .
The population of Iranian immigrants in Canada is marked by its relatively low average age: "The 1996 census revealed that about 12% were under the age of 10, while 22% were between the ages of 10 and 24. The largest age group was between 25 and 39, representing about 35% of Iranians in Canada. Only 6.5% of Iranians were over the age of 60" (Rahnema, p. 1189). Although the majority of Iranians in Canada are Muslim, there are also members of other religious and ethnic groups among them. In the 1998 edition of the Canadian Encyclopedia, Baha Abu-Laban noted that "the eastern Christians [Assyrians] and Baha'is are over-represented proportional to their distribution in Iran," (Abu-Laban, p. 1091. Most Iranian immigrants have settled in large urban centers in Canada. In the late 1980s, the distribution of the Iranian immigrant population in Canada was estimated to be 50% in Ontario, 20% in Que‚bec and 20% in British Columbia (Ibid). Some slight changes in these settlement patterns can be observed over a decade: "The vast majority of Iranian immigrants come from urban areas, particularly large and medium-sized cities, so they have chosen to settle in major urban centers of Canada. Ontario, particularly Toronto, has the largest concentration of Iranians. According to the 1996 census 56% of Iranians lived in Ontario, 15% in Quebec and 23% in British Columbia," (Rahnema, p. 1189). In Toronto, the majority have settled in the city's North York suburb, where one can find Iranian grocery stores, mosques, restaurants, travel agencies, bookstores, and other services catering to the local population, just as one can find in the other localities where Iranians have chosen to settle.
Information provided by the government of Canada stresses the symbiotic relationship between the Iranian business community and cultural institutions, such as Persian-language journals, magazines, radio, and television programs: "Advertising revenues bolster the production and free distribution of many group publications and programs. The Iranian-Canadian business sector is also a leader in hosting a number of live cultural events including poetry readings and musical events" . Amir Hassanpour has provided the following list of Persian-language publications in Toronto in 2000: Iran Star, Iran-e Java@n,. Iran Tribune, Iran Post, Java@na@n,. Sala@m. Toronto, Sarma@ya,. Sepida@r,. and ˆahrvand. He characterizes them as "secular, privately-owned, financed primarily through advertising income, and distributed free of charge in places frequented by the targeted readership (grocery stores, restaurants, video and bookstores)," and he provides the following overview of their content and focus: "Browsing through these papers, one notes immediately that the coverage of Canadian news is minimal - most of the cited papers are sharply focused on Iran. The limited space devoted to the Canadian-Iranian community is also centered on issues and activities related to Iran and being Iranian" (ISIM Newsletter 8 (online only), Sept 2001).
Across Canada, Iranians have also formed professional, student, and cultural associations such as the Canadian Society of Iranian Engineers and Architects, the Iranian/Persian Student Associations and Organizations (ISAO) of Canada, and the Ferdowsi Association of Canada. The Iranian Writers' Association of Canada, the Persian Artists' Association of Ontario, the Centre Culturelle et Communautaire des Persians in Montre‚al and the Vancouver Pars National Ballet stand out as the most prominent organizations devoted to Iranian cultural and artistic expression. The most prominent Iranian writers residing in Canada are Reza@ Bara@hani. and Mehri Yalfa@ni..
Cultural and social cohesion is also maintained in smaller cities across Canada. Saeed Rahnema has noted the establishment of many support organizations for the Iranian community, such as the Iranian Associations in each of the provinces, which provide services to new immigrants, organize classes and maintain Persian libraries. Rahnema also mentions the several family counseling organizations, women's associations and magazines catering specially for Iranian women. Persian language classes are also held in all of Canada's major urban centers, primarily for the benefit of Iranian children. Many Canadian agencies and organizations have sections that specifically provide services to Iranian-Canadians (Rahnema, "Iranians", p. 1189).
Two Canadian universities, University of Toronto and McGill University, have a tradition of teaching Persian language courses in addition to others devoted to various aspects of Iranian social, political and cultural history. As the Iranian population in Canada has grown, other major universities have begun to incorporate the study of the heritage of this relatively new immigrant community into their curriculum. Iranian-Canadians are also well represented in the Canadian post-secondary educational system, both as students and university instructors. Iranians have not made their presence felt strongly yet on the political map of Canada, although Rahnema notes that in the 1997 provincial elections in Ontario, there were two Iranian candidates on the NDP (New Democratic Party) list, and that several Iranian candidates also ran for the Board of Education. However, many Iranians, the majority of whom came to Canada as political refugees, are still preoccupied with Iranian politics. In addition to political opposition groups and organizations, numerous human rights organizations dealing with the situation of political prisoners and political refugees have also been established, such as the Organization for the Defense of Political Prisoners in Iran, the Society for the Defense of Refugees and the Council of Refugees (Ibid.). A prominent example of Iranian representation in Canadian associations is the role of Bara@hani. as the current president of PEN Canada, the Canadian chapter of PEN International (Poets, Essayists and Novelists), the aim of which is to support freedom of expression and opinion throughout the world.
Canada remains among the most popular destinations for Iranians seeking to emigrate, and Iranian immigrants to Canada are the fifth most numerous of any nationality
Bibliography: Much of the information in this article was provided by Sarah Pearson at Statistics Canada. Baha Abu-Laban, "Iranians," The Canadian Encyclopedia, Second Edition, Edmonton, 1988, II, p.1091. Amir Hassanpour "Homeland and Hostland: Iranian Press in Canada, " International Institute for the Study of Islam in the Modern World (ISIM) Newsletter 8, Sept 2001. Saeed Rahnema, "Iranians," The Canadian Encyclopedia, 2000 ed., Toronto, 1999, pp. 1189-90.
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