VZCZCXRO5849
RR RUEHGA RUEHHA RUEHMT RUEHQU RUEHVC
DE RUEHON #0093/01 1241819
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 041819Z MAY 09
FM AMCONSUL TORONTO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2804
INFO RUCNCAN/ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEAHLC/HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHDC
RUCNFB/FBI WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TORONTO 000093 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CAN, NEA/IR 
HOMELAND SECURITY CENTER WASHDC 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL IR KISL CA
SUBJECT: Iranians in Toronto: A Complex Community 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: The Toronto area is home to a large and 
well-established Iranian expatriate community that has steadfastly 
held on to its Iranian identity.  Nevertheless, the Iranian 
community is far from monolithic.  It is divided mainly into two 
factions that clash over differing views about the current Iranian 
government.  Older exiles - who tend to be vehemently against the 
Iranian government - often are hostile toward those they perceive to 
be supporters of the current regime.  That said, contacts in the 
community tell us that because of emotional ties to Iran, for most 
Iranian-Canadians, an easing of international sanctions against Iran 
would be viewed positively.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) The province of Ontario is home to 55,905 Iranian immigrants, 
according to the 2006 Canadian Census, with 121,505 respondents 
nation-wide claiming Iranian ancestry.  46,255 Iranian respondents, 
live in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) - over 80% of Ontario's 
Iranian population and 38% of all Iranian immigrants in Canada. 
Over 14,000 Iranian immigrants arrived in the GTA between 2001 and 
2006, adding a significant growth spurt to the Iranian population in 
Toronto. 
 
¶3. (U) The Toronto area's Iranian community has kept a strong 
cultural identity, is quite secular, and is very well established. 
In the city's North York suburb, where the majority has settled, one 
can find a large number of businesses such as grocery stores, 
restaurants, travel agencies, bookstores, and other services 
catering to the Iranian community.  There are also a number of 
Farsi-language journals, magazines, radio, and television programs. 
Toronto has a handful of popular Farsi-language weekly newspapers 
and publications, as well as a number of popular blogs read by 
Iranians here and around the world.  (Note: About 66% of people in 
Ontario who claim Iranian ancestry speak Farsi as their primary 
language, according to the 2006 census.)  The Farsi-language media 
mostly covers issues related to Iran and maintaining the Iranian 
identity in Canada.  At the same time, community members are 
beginning to participate in local politics.  In 2007, Reza Moridi 
was elected to the Ontario provincial legislature as a Liberal for 
the northern Toronto city of Richmond Hill - the first 
Iranian-Canadian to be elected to public office. 
 
---------------------------- 
Clashes Between Two Factions 
---------------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) In the 1980s and 1990s, the first significant Iranian 
expatriate community began to develop in Canada as a result of 
outward migration following the Iranian revolution in 1979.  A more 
recent wave of immigrants arrived in the past decade.  These 
separate migration periods define the two major groups in the 
Iranian-Canadian community: those who arrived as political refugees 
and consider themselves exiles, and those who immigrated in recent 
times for economic reasons.  The first-wave "exiles" tend to 
vehemently oppose the current Iranian government, while the newer 
immigrants are more ambivalent about the regime, causing discord 
between the two groups.  In another key difference, many in the 
first wave of immigrants have not returned to their homeland in 
decades, fearing persecution, in contrast to newer immigrants, for 
whom travel to Iran is more routine.  However, some in the "exile" 
community are beginning to travel to Iran and are finding that they 
are able to visit family members and friends without problem. 
 
¶5. (U) There are also tensions between exiles and a third group - 
wealthy Iranians who travel to Toronto frequently.  This group is 
comprised of Iranian elites who invest heavily in real estate in 
Canada in order to diversify their wealth.  They also send their 
children to colleges and universities in Ontario.  Because this 
group tends to follow Iranian social rules even when visiting 
Toronto (e.g. wearing head coverings), members of the exile 
community often consider them to be closely tied to the Iranian 
government. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
Dislike for the Supporters of the Current Regime 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶6. (U) Reaction to the arrest of well-known Iranian-Canadian blogger 
Hossein Derakhshan in Iran in November 2008 is an example of the 
animosity that the exile community feels towards those it perceives 
to be supportive of the current Iranian government.  Derakhsan, who 
in the past few years had been supportive of Iran's nuclear program 
in his blog, was arrested under suspicion of spying for Israel and 
is still in custody.  When news broke of his arrest there was little 
public outcry or organized effort to persuade the Canadian 
government to intervene for Derakhshan.  In fact, some fellow 
Iranian-Canadian bloggers went as far as to say that Derakshan's 
situation was comically ironic.  In contrast, when Ramin 
Jahanbegloo, an Iranian-Canadian academic was arrested in 2006, the 
community mobilized to pressure the Canadian and Iranian governments 
 
TORONTO 00000093  002 OF 002 
 
 
to release him.  Jahanbegloo was released after four months in 
custody. 
 
¶7. (U) More recently, there was community anger in March 2009, after 
Iranian vice-president Rahim Mashaei visited Toronto to give a 
speech on Iran's nuclear program, as part of a broader trip to 
Canada.  The event was not widely publicized and invitations were 
only sent out to a few members of the community.  According to our 
contact - a director of a local Farsi-language weekly newspaper - 
approximately 80 people attended the event.  Our contact was not 
invited to the event, and in fact, only found out about it the next 
day.  As news of the vice-president's speech got out in the 
following days, the newspaper received phone calls from members of 
the community who were angry that the event took place in Toronto. 
Had the event been publicized, it could have drawn hundreds of 
people for anti-Iranian government demonstrations, our contact 
estimates. 
 
¶8. (U) Comment: Cultural and social ties between Iran and the 
Iranian community in Toronto remain quite strong.  Newer immigrants 
maintain close contact with their families in Iran.  At the same 
time, older immigrants are finding that visiting their homeland is 
not as difficult as they had thought it would be.  As old family 
bonds are rebuilt and immigration from Iran continues, the ties 
between Iranian-Canadians and Iran promise to get stronger.  To that 
end, members of the community have told us that there is general 
support for the loosening of sanctions against Iran and an opening 
up of Iran - a support that seems motivated mostly by personal and 
family reasons. 
 
BYSFIELD