The QP Clip: John McCallum dismisses Chris Alexander

For weeks, Liberals have opened their turns during Question Period on temporary foreign workers. MP John McCallum, the longtime representative of Markham-Unionville, is the party’s lead critic of the Tories’ handling of programs intended to hire temporary foreigners. McCallum has grown increasingly exasperated as Employment Minister Jason Kenney’s comfort on his feat has confounded Liberal accusations.

Today, McCallum wondered why a blacklist intended to punish employers who abuse temporary foreign workers was empty. Conservatives have, after all, talked up their blacklists as effective punishment for rule breakers. Immigration Minister Chris Alexander denied any blacklist was empty. McCallum, smiling widely, dismissed Alexander, referring to him as “this guy” and asking Kenney—a much abler minister during QP—to answer instead. Alexander muddled through a response, blaming Liberals for allowing strippers into Canada willy nilly when they ruled Ottawa. McCallum appeared undeterred.