Government Orders
Business of Supply
“I want to dismiss that article. Those rules don't really let criminals delay hearings.”
MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT
Hon. Lena Metlege Diab
Diab rarely gives a clear yes or no answer and frequently dodges around questions in the House, filling time with slogans about 'protecting Canadians' and the government's plans. She openly says she won't answer specific questions if they're 'traps' or demands she doesn't like, and often pretends not to understand the real point. When she does give concrete numbers, they're usually self-flattering stats or promises of deportations she claims will happen eventually.
“I want to make this process sound official and complicated so you'll stop asking questions.”
“I want to make it sound like we handle crimes by immigrants well. I hope this answer dodges your real question.”
“I'm going to dodge your question about my personal involvement. The IRB is independent. They have to follow the law. They're just following the law.”
“I'm going to ignore your question about whether refugee policy and the IRB are at odds. If a person commits a crime, border agents can investigate. I won't say whether there's a problem.”
“You're asking me a hard question. I don't want to answer directly. Let me say the IRB is independent and hope that's enough to change the subject.”
“I don't want to say yes or no to your actual question. Let me just make a vague statement about laws and courts and how there are consequences for criminals.”
“The IRB is independent. It follows laws that are out of our hands. I won't say what role Parliament has.”
“I'm saying hello instead of answering your question.”
“I've already answered. I'm not going to keep repeating myself just because you don't like what I said.”
“I'm not going to give the number you want. Instead here are some big numbers about applications and investigations.”
“I want you to think I'm answering, but I'm really not saying yes or no.”
“I don't want to give a straight answer about our security checks. Let me list other things we do instead.”
“I don't want to give a straight answer to that specific question.”
“That's bad. I'm okay with letting a bad guy in sometimes. We said no to lots of people. I think I look good because I said no a lot.”
“I want to avoid giving a yes or no answer. I'll talk in general about safety and co-operation instead of answering the specific question about my department ignoring the rules.”
“I want you to think that we carefully checked this application. But I won't say whether we actually found anything wrong with this man or not.”
“I want to remind everyone that we have rules that should keep us safe. It works! I don't need to explain why this person visited Canada.”
“I'm not going to answer your yes or no question directly. I'll just repeat general points that sound good instead.”
“We already said the IRGC are terrorists and can't come to Canada. We did that.”