The Prime Minister’s Office and the Canada Border Services Agency say they were not “involved” or “consulted” in a parliamentary secretary’s announcement of an apparent entry ban on the controversial Irish hip-hop group Kneecap, officials said in new documents tabled Monday.
Liberal MP Vince Gasparro , the parliamentary secretary for combatting crime, said in a video posted to X on Sept. 19 that the group was allegedly “advocating for political violence” and “glorifying terrorist organizations.” The video remains online.
He said that “on behalf of the Government of Canada I am announcing that on the advice of our officials, we have deemed the group Kneecap ineligible to enter our country.”
In a response tabled in the House of Commons to an order paper question by NDP MP Jenny Kwan about the handling of the case, federal officials said they were not involved.
“The Canada Border Services Agency was not consulted regarding the announcement,” the department said.
CBSA officials would be in charge of administering and enforcing an entry ban against any foreign individuals, according to additional information provided in that response from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
Additionally, the Prime Minister’s Office responded that it too was “not involved in the decision for the member of Eglinton—Lawrence to make the announcement,” using the name of Gasparro’s riding.
The IRCC’s portion of the response to Kwan says one member’s electronic travel authorization (eTA) had been cancelled in August — a month before Gasparro’s announcement — but that the cancellation “does not preclude him from applying again.”
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The response says that in August, Kneecap member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh’s eTA was cancelled for inadmissibility “for omitting to disclose complete and accurate information on his application,” and that he was notified of the decision.
“He remains eligible to submit a new application, which will be assessed on its own merits,” the response says.
The response makes no mention of the since-dropped criminal charge against Óg Ó hAnnaidh in the U.K. that accused him of flying a Hezbollah flag during a London concert last year, which Gasparro specifically cited as a reason for the apparent entry ban.
The department adds the eTA applications of Kneecap’s other two members, John James Ó Dochartaigh and Naoise Ó Cairealláin, “are currently under review” and that they were informed in September “not to travel to Canada until receiving further communication” from IRCC.
In response to Kwan’s question on whether Kneecap’s members are allowed to enter Canada, the IRCC says, “Inadmissibility for non-compliance generally ends once a client is no longer in a state of non-compliance” — suggesting no indefinite entry ban is in place.
The written response was tabled in Parliament on the final day before the required 45-day deadline to do so.
Global News has reached out to Kwan, Gasparro and Kneecap’s management for comment.
Gasparro has refused to answer questions on who authorized him to make the announcement and whether the dropping of charges would mean the band could come to Canada.
Conservative Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman told Global News in an interview last month that Gasparro “either doesn’t know what’s happening within his own government or clearly lied.”
“I would suspect that in any other workplace you would be reprimanded for that,” she said. “And in this case, you wouldn’t be a parliamentary secretary anymore.”
Lantsman said she would support a parliamentary investigation into the actions of Gasparro and the government in the matter, “to expose what they are not telling us.”
Kwan, who called Gasparro a “rogue Liberal MP” on social media, asked in a letter to Immigration Minister Lena Diab last month if there will be accountability if Gasparro acted unilaterally.
Her office previously told Global News that Kwan, the NDP’s immigration critic, would push for a House of Commons committee study of the matter.
More to come…
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