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Two weeks have passed since a liberal government official said that the controversial Irish hip-hop group Kneecap was prohibited from entering Canada, and it is not clear if the group is really prohibited, or if the official was “rogue”, as some critics have questioned.
Kneecap’s management says he never received the official word that his electronic travel authorizations had been denied after the liberal deputy Vince Gasparro, the Parliamentary Secretary of Combatting Crime, announced the apparent prohibition of social networks on September 19.
Conservative and NDP parliamentarians now demand government responses and say they are open to conduct research on Gasparro’s conduct, and if their announcement was approved by immigration and public security officials.
Gasparro has repeatedly refused to comment more about the matter and has deferred questions about immigration, refugees and citizenship of Canada (IRCC). The department has refused to talk about the specific case of Kneecap, citing privacy reasons.
This is how they have evolved the last two weeks.
In a video of social networks on September 19, Gasparro said that “on behalf of the Government of Canada”, Kneecap members were considered inesegible for the entrance before the scheduled concerts in Toronto and Vancouver, based on the Council of our officials. “
Gasparro said that Kneecap, who has been a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause and the critics of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, has “publicly shown support for terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah and Hamas” that goes beyond artistic expression and freedom of expression.
Its publication remains online.
Gasparro cited a burden related to terror in the United Kingdom against Kneecap member, Liam Iog or Hannaidh, accused of flying a Hezbollah flag in a concert in London last year, as a reason to deny the entrance to Canada.
Kneecap responded to Gasparro on social networks by calling his comments “totally false and deeply malicious” and said he had initiated legal actions.
The Belfast Group said in a separate statement to their fans that the members, all of whom are Irish citizens, had already been approved for electronic travel authorizations before Gasparro’s announcement.
Both Ireland and Ireland of the North, as part of the United Kingdom, are countries exempt from visa, but citizens still need electronic travel authorizations to enter Canada.
Global News has asked the Ireland Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Executive Office of Ireland of the North to comment on the case.
September 26, A London court dismissed the criminal case Against or Hannaidh, according to their lawyers that prosecutors had lost the deadline for the position for one day.
Or Hannaidh had affirmed that the Prosecutor’s Office was a politically motivated effort to silence the support of the band to the Palestinians, and that the alleged Hezbollah flag was thrown to the London stage by a member of the audience. Kneecap says he does not support Hezbollah and Hamas, or tolerates violence.
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The Prime Minister of Ireland of the North, Michelle O’Neill, another vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause, celebrated the dismissal of the case.
It is not clear if any discussion about the case took place when Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin visited Canada to meet with Prime Minister Mark Carney earlier that week.
In Ottawa, the same day that the case was withdrawn, Gasparro declined to comment when journalists asked him if the Court’s decision meant that Kneecap would allow to enter Canada. He said he was not worried about the legal actions of the group and that IRCC officials would provide comments in the future.
Kneecap says there is no word from Canada
Kneecap’s manager Daniel Lambert told Global News in an email on September 29 that neither group members have received any official notice about their electronic travel authorizations that refuse or revoke.
“There are no warnings at all, just the video of Vince’s social networks,” he wrote, referring to Gasparro.
In a statement, IRCC said he could not comment on the specific case of Kneecap due to privacy reasons and did not confirm whether a formal entry prohibition was ever established, or if one remains.
Global News was included in an email chain between the bureaucrats and a spokesman for the immigration minister, Lena Diab, who instructed the relations with the media of the department to add an line to their “messaging for the advance of Kneecap” to take into account that “the applicants are informed of their visa status through the email provided in their requests.”
The IRCC statement said that any person whose entry visa requests have refused “can re -apply for an ETA once they have addressed the reasons that lead to the refusal of their application.”
A spokesman for the Office of the Minister of Public Security, Gary Anandasangaree, declined to comment when Global News asked him if Gasparro consulted with the minister before his announcement.
TORIES, NDP UP Pressure on Si Gasparro ‘Mintió’
Conservative vice president Melissa Laintsman told Global News in an interview on October 1 that Gasparro “does not know what is happening within her own government or clearly lied.”
“I would suspect that anywhere else you would be reprimanded by that,” he said. “And in this case, you would no longer be parliamentary secretary.”
Laintsman said he would support parliamentary investigation into the actions of Gasparro and the Government in the matter, “expose what they do not tell us.”
A spokesman for the Gasparro office, when he was asked again to clarify if the officials approved a ban, said “had no more comments” in an email.
Immigration Minister, Lena Diab, ignored journalists’ questions about the Kneecap case while heading to a meeting of Caucus Liberal in Ottawa that same day.
When asked again if Kneecap members or their team have heard something from the Canadian government, manager Lambert responded in an email: “It’s not a thing.”
The deputy of the NDP Jenny Kwan, the immigration criticism of the party, has now sent a letter to Diab urging the minister to provide clarity about the case.
She said that the lack of responses has given the appearance of “an arbitrary and politicized weapon of public policy for political purposes.”
The letter asks Diab to confirm whether Kneecap is prohibited from entering Canada, whose approval Gasparro received to make his ad, and if the Minister’s office or the prime minister’s office had any prior notice.
Kwan, who called Gasparro a “rogue liberal parliamentary” In social networksHe also asks in his letter if there will be responsibility if Gasparro acted unilaterally.
The NDP deputy raised some of his questions to Diab directly during the period of questions in the House of Commons on October 2. The minister responded almost at the foot of the IRCC statement of September 29.
A Kwan spokeswoman says she will also present a written paper question about the subject, which will require the government to respond in writing within 45 days.
Kwan is also considering requesting a study in the Ethics or Immigration Committee of the House of Commons, but will need a member sitting to support his call.
The NDP does not have the status of official part and does not have a position in any of the committee.
