Citizenship and Immigration Committee on April 19th, 2023

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

How?

[Marilou McPhedran]

We were talking about it. In one communication I can give you as an example, my colleague Laura Robinson said, “Is someone in government going to add these names? If not, we'll go ahead and do that.” Nobody answered, so we went ahead and did that. We made it very clear, and the communications show this was an ongoing process until the airport was bombed.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Did you give the altered visa facilitation letter to any other third party to distribute?

[Marilou McPhedran]

What do you mean by “altered”?

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

The original facilitation letter that came in had “Canadian citizens only” written on it. Is that right? Then Ms. Robinson wrote to Mr. Young and said—

[Marilou McPhedran]

That was at my request.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

—at your request that this doesn't work. Then a template came back that was altered. Is that correct?

[Marilou McPhedran]

That's correct.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Did Mr. Young alter that template?

[Marilou McPhedran]

I don't know. I just know he sent it.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

You don't know whether Mr. Young or anyone at Global Affairs altered the template. Did you, anyone in your staff or Ms. Robinson send the altered template to any other third party for the purpose of distributing it?

[Marilou McPhedran]

Yes, we were working with a network of trusted advocates. It was altered in that “Canadian citizen” was removed. Nothing else was changed.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Did you have permission from Global Affairs to send the altered facilitation letter to any third party for the use of distribution? Did you have express permission to do that?

[Marilou McPhedran]

I'm happy to table the email communications. We made a request, because women were getting turned away.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Thank you. I would love to see that communication.

Like many parliamentarians, I had dire cases in my office of people pleading for evacuation. On August 27, my office was corresponding with the government to get a constituent's mother—a member of the Hazara ethnic group—and a doctor who was educating women in how to resist virginity checkups out of the country. I was not offered visa facilitation letters but you were. Why do you think that is?

[Marilou McPhedran]

I don't know, other than to say that I had been part of an email group that started around August 20. George Young was part of that communication. It was initiated by then minister Monsef.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

In an email included in your affidavit, on September 21, 2021, at 1:03 p.m., you wrote to Mike Jones, chief of staff to then immigration minister and now public safety minister Marco Mendicino, and said, “While we were certainly prepared to work as closely as possible in the event of a Conservative government, I think I can honestly say that we are more hopeful to see the same PM this morning and Minister Mendicino and the team still at the helm of IRCC”.

Do you think you were given the ability to issue visa facilitation letters and the ability to choose who came to Canada while others weren't because you had voiced support for the Liberal government to a Liberal minister's political chief of staff during a federal election?

[Marilou McPhedran]

No, I don't think that was the case.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Then why do you think you were you given authorization or claimed to be given authorization and no one else was?

[Marilou McPhedran]

I think because of this communication that was happening in the small group, which included copying the ministers regularly.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Would you say that your political access to the Liberal government allowed you to select people to come to Canada?

[Marilou McPhedran]

No. I would say that my decades of work as a human rights activist that led to Afghan women leaders asking me to help—

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

I've done a decade of work in casework as well, as have many of my other colleagues around the table. We don't think it's equitable or right for parliamentarians to pick and choose who gets to come to Canada in an emergency situation like this. Why did you?

[Marilou McPhedran]

First of all, I think we need to correct the facts: I wasn't choosing who gets to come to Canada.

[Michelle Rempel, Conservative, Calgary Nose Hill, AB]

Who was?