Ottawa, ON – The Hon. Michelle Rempel Garner, Conservative Shadow Minister for Immigration, issued the following statement calling for action after a Temporary Resident Permit was issued to a senior member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a listed terrorist organization:
“The government’s decision to allow a high-profile member of the IRGC to enter Canada raises serious questions about the government’s judgement and ability to keep Canadians safe ahead of the FIFA World Cup, the world’s biggest sporting event.
“That he was able to get on a plane to Canada is alarming and, remarkably, the imminent arrival of this individual was only discovered due to independent investigative journalism. It begs the question: had this not happened, would this individual now be moving freely around Canada?
“When asked directly, the Prime Minister stated that he could not discuss the matter due to privacy legislation. The Foreign Affairs Minister, for her part, said the permission to enter Canada was ‘unintentional’.
“By her own admission at yesterday’s committee testimony, the Minister of Immigration is accountable for issuing this visa, yet the Liberals refused to allow her to answer my questions in Question Period. Minister Diab’s vague and bizarre responses at the Public Safety committee further confirm that she has no business managing Canada’s immigration system, and she needs to be fired.
“Further, Conservatives are calling on the Liberals to explain why they issued a permit to this person, and whether they have issued other similarly egregious permits for the World Cup.
“Canadians have a right to feel safe in their communities, and this most recent security failure demonstrates that the Liberals have come up short once again. Conservatives will continue to litigate these devastating Liberal failures, and will keep fighting for the safety and well-being of all Canadians.”