Former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper attended the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) annual gathering for the second consecutive year.
MEK (or NCRI) is an extremist cult with a long history of violence and terror. In Canada, MEK was designated as a terrorist organization till 2012 when the Harper government removed them from the list. During that same year Harper cut diplomatic relations with Iran and expelled Iranian diplomats.
MEK has no support among Iranians inside or outside the country yet the group spends significant amount of money on sponsoring travel costs for politicians to attend their gatherings and they are known for paying high speaking fees, mostly to former officials. MEK’s affiliate in Canada, Iran Democratic Association (IDA), has spent close to $60,000 on sponsoring travel expenses for Canadian Members of Parliament to attend MEK gatherings. This amount though only includes the publicly reported money spent on Members of Parliament. It’s unclear how much money MEK has spent on travel expenses or speaking fees for former politicians.