Bill C-12 'You are a very bad minister,' Conservative immigration critic says at tense committee meeting
Posted: Thu Dec 04, 2025 5:42 pm
'You are a very bad minister,' Conservative immigration critic says at tense committee meeting
- Immigration Bill C-12:
- Gives government power to suspend or cancel entire classes of immigration documents.
- Rempel Garner pressed Diab on whether she would use it to extend temporary visas en masse.
- Diab avoided a direct answer, saying “that’s not the purpose” of the legislation.
- Heated Exchange:
- Rempel Garner accused Diab of being “a very bad minister” and of giving “word salad” answers.
- Diab retorted: “I prefer fattoush and tabbouleh to your salad, at any time,” referencing her Lebanese heritage.
- Garner shot back that this was “the oddest thing any immigration minister has ever said” and threatened to add it to Diab’s “performance review”.
- Criminal Deportation Debate:
- Garner raised a case of an Indian national convicted of an indecent act who avoided deportation with a lenient sentence.
- She accused Diab of defending criminals, saying “So, you’re pro-raper.”
- Diab insisted sentencing is up to the courts and that serious crimes are dealt with appropriately.
- Immigration Targets:
- Government plans to cut permanent immigration by 20% over three years.
- Temporary resident admissions will be reduced by 45%, from 673,650 in 2025 to 370,000 in 2027–28.
- Diab said the goal is “sustainable, predictable levels” after unusually high growth (1 million people per year under Trudeau’s final years).
- Bullying Concerns:
- Deputy Minister Harpreet Kochhar warned MPs that public servants testifying at committees have faced harassment after clips were posted online.
- Garner dismissed this as censorship, declaring “I will not be silenced… Giddy up”.
- Immigration Bill C-12:
- Gives government power to suspend or cancel entire classes of immigration documents.
- Rempel Garner pressed Diab on whether she would use it to extend temporary visas en masse.
- Diab avoided a direct answer, saying “that’s not the purpose” of the legislation.
- Heated Exchange:
- Rempel Garner accused Diab of being “a very bad minister” and of giving “word salad” answers.
- Diab retorted: “I prefer fattoush and tabbouleh to your salad, at any time,” referencing her Lebanese heritage.
- Garner shot back that this was “the oddest thing any immigration minister has ever said” and threatened to add it to Diab’s “performance review”.
- Criminal Deportation Debate:
- Garner raised a case of an Indian national convicted of an indecent act who avoided deportation with a lenient sentence.
- She accused Diab of defending criminals, saying “So, you’re pro-raper.”
- Diab insisted sentencing is up to the courts and that serious crimes are dealt with appropriately.
- Immigration Targets:
- Government plans to cut permanent immigration by 20% over three years.
- Temporary resident admissions will be reduced by 45%, from 673,650 in 2025 to 370,000 in 2027–28.
- Diab said the goal is “sustainable, predictable levels” after unusually high growth (1 million people per year under Trudeau’s final years).
- Bullying Concerns:
- Deputy Minister Harpreet Kochhar warned MPs that public servants testifying at committees have faced harassment after clips were posted online.
- Garner dismissed this as censorship, declaring “I will not be silenced… Giddy up”.