Minister of International Development Harjit Sajjan prepares to appear at the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration, studying the government's response to the final report on the Special Committee on Afghanistan, in Ottawa, on Wednesday, April 26, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
OTTAWA – International Development Minister Harjit Sajjan says he did not know Sen. Marilou McPhedran was handing out unauthorized travel documents to hundreds of Afghans during the rise of the Taliban in 2021.
McPhedran told Parliament’s immigration committee last week that Sajjan’s then-chief of staff had given her a template for a “visa facilitation letter” that Afghans could use to clear checkpoints on their way to the airport to escape the country.
She shared that template with several “trusted advocates,” and she said she knows the letter ended up in the hands of roughly 640 Afghans.
Sajjan was the defence minister at the time and McPhedran says she copied him and several other federal ministers on many emails about her activities.
Sajjan says he may have been copied on those emails but he was so busy at the time he didn’t have time to check his emails.
Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner says the minister’s story does not inspire confidence.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 26, 2023.
