Carney should replace immigration minister

Prime Minister Mark Carney needs to move swiftly to address a problem minister in his caucus who appears either unable or unwilling to do the job they’ve been tasked with.

Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, Lena Metlege Diab, is under fire this week after government critics — and even fellow Liberal colleagues — assert that the Nova Scotia MP is in over her head when it comes to handling such an important portfolio.

In a story first published by CBC’s French-language Radio-Canada on Wednesday, the leaders of a rising number of immigration-related organizations are questioning why they have been unable to have an audience with Canada’s immigration minister.

“I have seen 14 immigration ministers come and go, and it is truly surprising,” said Stephan Reichhold, executive director of the Quebec-based Table de concertation des organismes au service des personnes réfugiées et immigrantes.

“We are really astonished that she is completely absent.”

Since Diab’s swearing in as immigration minister in May 2025, Reichhold says he has never managed to speak directly with her, in spite of repeated requests to do so.

Unlike her predecessor, Marc Miller, who apparently had frequent contact with interested parties such as Reichhold in the past, Diab has been AWOL from her public duties.

Five other organizations that spoke to Radio-Canada expressed the same concerns and frustrations, with Ukrainian Canadian Congress CEO Ihor Michalchyshyn saying he only spoke with the minister once, via videoconference last spring.

As CBC reported, the organization wants to meet with the minister to help Ukrainians who have fled the ongoing war find a path to permanent residency here in Canada. But their efforts have been frustrated by an unwillingness by the minister to meet.

She also seems unwilling to do media interviews as well, as she declined an interview request by Radio-Canada and declined to even offer up a boilerplate written response.

Last December, Diab was put on the hot seat by Opposition Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner during a two-hour committee appearance, in which Rempel Garner accused her of being a “very bad minister” when Diab was unable to give a clear answer to a question regarding the use of new government legislation under C-12 to mass extend temporary visas.

A December CBC report noted that when asked by Rempel Garner if she plans to use the legislative power to keep more people in Canada rather than expelling them when their visas expire, Diab quipped that this was “not the purpose” of Bill C-12, but would not say how it would be used.

Diab’s performance during this tense confrontation was, shall we say, less than inspiring. Of course, losing a verbal sparring match with a Conservative MP does not necessarily make Diab an awful minister. But Diab’s lack of attention to her portfolio, and her inability to help her own Liberal colleagues with immigration issues coming from their constituents, certainly does.

Aside from calling her a “good person,” 10 Liberal MPs who spoke to Radio-Canada about her performance on the condition of anonymity have little good to say about her on-the-job performance, and are — according to the CBC report — opening questioning her place at the cabinet table.

“It doesn’t make sense,” said one Liberal elected official. “In the House of Commons, many MPs hold their breath when she answers questions from the opposition. We’re afraid she’ll put her foot in her mouth.”

Worse still, they say she doesn’t appear to have a firm grasp of the issues, and cannot give them clear answers either.

Not surprisingly, Rempel Garner yesterday publicly called for the minister to be fired, pointing to the Radio-Canada story, reiterating that Diab does not understand how to handle her portfolio, and calling her “incompetent.”

“Canadians want an immigration system that works, and we need an immigration minister who can deliver,” Rempel Garner said in a press release Wednesday afternoon. “It’s time for Mark Carney to admit that he showed bad judgment, hold his ministers accountable and fire Lena Diab.”

At a time when immigration issues are top of mind for Canadians, particularly after the way in which the Liberal government woefully misjudged Canada’s ability to house and support an influx of newcomers within many Canadian cities, we must have a steadier hand on this file than we have seen lately.

The lack of engagement by Diab with not only her colleagues but also affected organizations that rely on two-way communication with their federal government, is troubling.

The Conservatives are right to question this minister’s abilities, and it’s becoming clear that Carney needs to hand the immigration portfolio to a more experienced minister.

Sooner rather than later.