Immigration Minister Jason Kenney (Image: Twitter)
In June, it seemed the rumours that Conrad Black had high-ranking government help with his application for Canadian residency had been quelled—but now they’re back. More than 80 lawyers (all immigration specialists) have signed an open letter to Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, saying they believe he helped speed along the newspaper magnate–cum–jailbird’s temporary permit. The letter is in support of a Toronto lawyer, Guidy Mamann, who had suggested such a high profile case wouldn’t have been left solely in the hands of civil servants without a “wink or nod” from the minister. Following Mamann’s comments, Kenney’s office asked the Law Society of Upper Canada to investigate and formally censure him, but the file was closed due to lack of evidence. Surprisingly, the famously litigious baron has steered well clear of this particular war of words. [Globe and Mail]
The latest scandal in Ottawa is that immigration minister Jason Kenney, who’s been charged with building the Conservative brand in Canada’s immigrant communities, seems to have allowed a Conservative fundraising memo [PDF] to go out on government letterhead—a big no-no. There have been a number of reactions, from the NDP demanding Kenney’s resignation to the Liberals trying to look above the fray. We can’t help but have a reaction of our own: the Conservatives like us! They really, really like us!
