On Parliament Hill

“Facts are stubborn things,” an old adage reminds us. But for Justin Trudeau’s Liberals, there’s a disconnect between their “facts” and the truth.

When illegal border crossings first began to occur in early 2017, Conservatives sounded the alarm but the Liberal government did nothing. They acted as if nothing was happening and they mocked us for raising this important issue. Yet as the number of illegal border crossers grew, the Liberals chose to stop sharing the daily numbers of illegal crossings, restricting information to monthly reports.

Putting a lid on the truth was the first step this government took. With greater control over the release of this information, the Liberals could sort out how they would spin their message from month to month as the situation worsened.

Fast forward to November 2018 and some 30,000 people have illegally entered Canada. Despite calls from Conservatives and thousands of Canadians to address this crisis, the Liberals have taken no meaningful action. They can’t defend their actions (or lack of action) and they’ve turned to name-calling and disinformation.

Take the recent example of Liberal Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen discussing illegal border crossers with the CBC.

Recently, Liberal Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen took umbrage at Ontario Provincial Immigration Minister Lisa McLeod’s claim that over 40% of Ontario’s homeless shelter spaces were occupied by illegal migrants. Hussen was quick to contradict her, resorting to another tired Liberal tactic: calling her a “fearmonger” and accusing her of “anti-immigrant rhetoric.”

The problem for Hussen was that she was correct – a fact quickly pointed out by the CBC. Moreover, when Hussen claimed that the number of illegal border crossings was down from last year, the CBC host had to correct him again.

As Hussen fumbled his way through the rest of the interview it became increasingly clear that he had a clear understanding of his department’s talking points, but he really didn’t know his numbers.

Similarly, in another recent interview, Border Security Minister Bill Blair also claimed that the number of illegal border crossers was down over the past few months by 70%. However, as was pointed out by the Canadian Press, he was basing that assertion on only one month of data (August 2018) and the overall numbers for 2018 are indeed up.

The Liberals like to talk a big game about fact-based policy-making, but as evidenced by their own ministers, they’re willing to ignore their government’s own numbers when they’re on the hot seat. These are not the actions of an honest government, but they are the actions of a government that’s only interested in smoke and mirrors.

As Conservatives, we’re interested in getting results for Canadians. That means less time spent spinning the message and more time making life better for Canadian families. Because the stubborn fact of the matter is: Conservatives are ready to restore accountability to Ottawa.