OTTAWA — Calgary Tory MP Michelle Rempel Garner is accusing Immigration Minister Lena Diab of attempting to avoid parliamentary scrutiny by failing to confirm whether she will attend a scheduled Committee of the Whole session later this week.In a statement released Monday, Rempel Garner said the Official Opposition selected Diab’s immigration portfolio for extended Commons questioning as part of Parliament’s review of government spending plans.The Committee of the Whole session is scheduled for Thursday evening and would allow MPs to directly question the minister on immigration policies and departmental spending.“The Minister of Finance has committed to showing up for his full session, but to date, Lena Diab has not confirmed she will attend, or attend the full four hours, for hers,” Rempel Garner said.The Conservative immigration critic escalated her criticism by suggesting Prime Minister Mark Carney should remove Diab from cabinet if she refuses to participate.“Everyone knows that Lena Diab will eventually have to be fired because of her incompetence,” Rempel Garner said.“But if she’s so bad that the Prime Minister’s Office doesn’t think she can be questioned about her department’s work as required by Parliamentary procedure, then Mark Carney needs to immediately fire and replace her with someone who will.”.Rempel Garner also accused Diab of failing to respond adequately to a series of recent controversies tied to immigration policy, border enforcement and administration within Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.Among the issues cited by Rempel Garner were recent reports concerning delays in removing Iranian regime officials from Canada.“Instead of responding to the issues facing Canadians, Lena Diab has been in hiding for two weeks and is trying to escape further accountability now,” she said.“She needs to show up for the entirety of the questioning on Thursday, or she needs to be immediately fired.”
