Mr. Speaker, section 110 of the U.S. Immigration Reform Act was before Congress for 13 months, passing in September 1996.
When I asked the Minister of Foreign Affairs to table a list of official representations made by our ambassador in Washington, I was told it would be a very long list. In committee a department official confirmed that there was only one representation made and it was a letter sent in December 1996, three months after the bill passed.
Why did the minister indicate that greater representation had been made than had actually been made? Why did our ambassador drop the ball in representing Canadian interests in Washington?