Ottawa, ON — Melissa Lantsman, Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, and Rachael Thomas, Member of Parliament for Lethbridge, issued the following statement after Minister Ahmed Hussen’s testimony at the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage:

“Today it was confirmed that the Minister of Diversity and Inclusion was made aware that the Community Media Action Centre (CMAC), which is comprised of Laith Marouf and his spouse, had a very long and public history of making hateful and anti-semitic comments toward the Jewish community almost a month before taking action and terminating their funding, only doing so once news came out in the media.

“This comes from the same government whose Prime Minister has worn racist costumes more times than he can remember. Who tossed women in his caucus aside on a whim when they dared to speak up and now we know, sat on this information and did nothing for almost a month.

“Canadians deserve answers from the Minister who oversees the Department of Canadian Heritage, Pablo Rodriguez. Unfortunately, the NDP-Liberal coalition and the Bloc Québécois do not agree and shut down debate on the Conservative motion to summon him.

“Conservatives will continue fighting for transparency and accountability from this tired Liberal government to ensure that taxpayer dollars are never used to promote hate and that those responsible are held to account.”