Did He or Didn't He?

In an interview last week, Jason Kenney wasn't sure if he'd met with any of the people making allegations against Ruby Dhalla. In fairness, he said it was possible that he may have met some of these people at a round table meeting, but he had no recollection.

Now, I don't expect politicians to remember everyone they meet, but the meeting depicted here took place on April 26th, the day after the Filipino community met with provincial representatives and apparently raised the Dhalla issue. Also in attendance was MP Kent.

The woman in the pink scarf on the left is Ms. Velasco, who testified before the Immigration Committee this morning.

Did she raise the claims made by the Dhalla caregivers with Kenney? Did she raise it with someone from his office? Did she submit in writing any claims to bolster her case to the Minister? Were the Dhalla claims included?

At the meeting, ten of the 17 participants from the Filipino community who had the chance to speak and present written submissions...

Velasco added that in her written submission to the Minister, she had indicated that she and caregivers would like to work with Minister Kenney and his staff closely, just like what they are doing now with the provincial government. “We have lots of creative ideas in resolving the issues of the caregiver program,” she said, but which would be difficult to thoroughly discuss in a dialogue setting. To this suggestion, the Minister informed the group of the presence of a staff in his Ministry who could also help.

Before you jump, I'm not impugning Ms. Velasco, because from all indications, she appears to be doing important work.

I do have a few questions for the Minister and his staff though. In addition to those questions listed above, and while Kenney has said that he's not sure if he met with those mentioned in the story, he has also said that his department has advised those involved that they would be protected as 'whistle-blowers' and that all their time accumulated working for the Dhalla's would be counted toward the total that they require.

It would be nice to have some time lines and a few more names here. A bit more clarity as to how the Star came to question these individuals would be instructive as well.

I'll have more on the committee meeting held today, later, but in the meantime, here is an interesting note from Susan Delacourt and a round-up from Aaron Wherry.

More too at BCer's.