Conservatives want to know if Liberal ‘lied’ about Kneecap entry ban

The group says it has still not received official notice about the decision, and Liberals have refused to provide clarity in the days since the announcement.

Federal Conservatives say they want the Liberal government to clearly explain whether the controversial Irish hip-hop group Kneecap is barred from entering Canada or not as questions swirl about the case.

Liberal MP Vince Gasparro, the parliamentary secretary for combating crime, announced nearly two weeks ago “on behalf of the Government of Canada” that the band’s members had been deemed ineligible for entry ahead of scheduled concerts this month.

Yet the group says it has still not received official notice about being barred or any rejection of their electronic travel authorizations, which Irish citizens require in order to enter Canada and which the group says they obtained.

Gasparro and other cabinet officials have refused to provide clarity in the days since the announcement.

“He either lied or he has no clue how it works,” Conservative Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman told Global News in an interview. “And I find it hard to believe that he has no clue how it works.”

Lantsman suggested Conservatives would support an investigation into whether Gasparro’s announcement was made without knowledge of other government departments, including the Prime Minister’s Office and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

“We have a parliamentary secretary that, again, either doesn’t know what’s what’s happening within his own government or clearly lied,” she said. “I would suspect that in any other workplace you would be reprimanded for that. And in this case, you wouldn’t be a parliamentary secretary anymore.

“We certainly want to know if the parliamentary secretary lied to Canadians. That’s part of our job as the opposition: not only to oppose the government where it makes sense … but also to expose what they are not telling us.”