Dear Editor,
I would like to respond to Mr. Wiens鈥檚 letter printed [online] Oct. 2 [Figueroa tale telling, 91原创 Advance Times, Oct. 4]. It鈥檚 regarding Mr. Jensen鈥檚 work and action on the Jose Figueroa immigration file. Mr. Wiens states that 鈥淟eon wasn鈥檛 even an MP, but he still used his connections to get the job done.鈥�
Mr. Wiens makes audacious and uncorroborated statements. He knows full well the people from both the Conservative and Liberal governments who worked on behalf of Mr. Figueroa in his efforts to remain in Canada are not able to speak about the file.
Additionally, the one person who remained a constant advocate within his government on this file, former Member of Parliament Mark Warawa, sadly passed away this past June and is not able to respond to these claims and quite frankly, he shouldn鈥檛 need to. With that, I point Mr. Wiens and 91原创 Advance Times readers to two articles in which Mr. Warawa is quoted:
November 10, 2015, 91原创 Times:
鈥淚 believe that it is in the best interest of our country, and in the best interest of Mr. Figueroa鈥檚 (wife and) three Canadian-born children, that Mr. Figueroa is granted permanent resident status,鈥� Warawa wrote.
December 23, 2015, CBC News:
Mark Warawa, the Conservative MP for 91原创-Aldergrove, has been pushing for an exemption for Figueroa for years. 鈥淥n issues like this, they鈥檙e non-partisan. We work together,鈥� he said.
鈥淚鈥檓 thrilled at the outcome and as I say, John McCallum is minister, he gets the credit. I鈥檓 thrilled. This is what we鈥檝e been hoping for, for a number of years, and you can鈥檛 get better than to get a gift like this at Christmas.鈥�
So, Mr Wiens, if you would like to ask the public to give all credit to Mr. Jensen, go ahead but know you do so in error.
Kim Houlind, 91原创
