It’s been two weeks since a Liberal government official said the controversial Irish hip-hop group Kneecap was barred from entering Canada, and it remains unclear if the group is truly banned — or if the official went “rogue,” as some critics have questioned.
Kneecap’s management says it never received official word that its electronic travel authorizations had been denied after Liberal MP Vince Gasparro, the parliamentary secretary for combatting crime, announced the apparent ban on social media on Sept. 19.
Conservative and NDP MPs are now demanding answers from the government and say they are open to pursuing investigations into Gasparro’s conduct, and whether his announcement was approved by immigration and public safety officials.
Gasparro has repeatedly declined to comment further on the matter and has deferred questions to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). The department has declined to speak about Kneecap’s specific case, citing privacy reasons.
Here’s how the past two weeks have evolved.
In a social media video on Sept. 19, Gasparro said that “on behalf of the Government of Canada” the members of Kneecap had been deemed ineligible for entry ahead of scheduled concerts in Toronto and Vancouver, based “on the advice of our officials.”
Gasparro said Kneecap — who have been vocal supporters of the Palestinian cause and critics of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza — has “publicly displayed support for terrorist organizations such as Hezbollah and Hamas” that goes beyond artistic expression and free speech.
His post remains online.
Gasparro cited a then-active terror-related charge in the United Kingdom against Kneecap member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, who was accused of flying a Hezbollah flag at a concert in London last year, as a reason for denying entry to Canada.
Kneecap responded to Gasparro on social media by calling his comments “wholly untrue and deeply malicious” and said it had initiated legal action.
The Belfast group said in a separate statement to its fans that the members — all of whom are Irish citizens — had already been approved for electronic travel authorizations ahead of Gasparro’s announcement.
Both Ireland and Northern Ireland, as a part of the U.K., are visa-exempt countries but citizens still need electronic travel authorizations to enter Canada.
Global News has asked the Irish foreign ministry and the Northern Ireland Executive Office for comment on the case.
Terror charge thrown out, and questions emerge
On Sept. 26, a London court dismissed the criminal case against Ó hAnnaidh, agreeing with his lawyers that the prosecutors had missed the deadline for the charge by a day.
Ó hAnnaidh had claimed the prosecution was a politically motivated effort to silence the band’s support for Palestinians, and that the alleged Hezbollah flag was thrown onto the London stage by an audience member. Kneecap says it doesn’t support Hezbollah and Hamas, nor condone violence.
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Northern Ireland First Minister Michelle O’Neill, another vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause, celebrated the dismissal of the case.
It is not clear whether any discussion of the case took place when Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin visited Canada to meet with Prime Minister Mark Carney earlier that week.
In Ottawa, on the same day the case was dropped, Gasparro declined to comment when asked by reporters if the court decision meant Kneecap would be allowed into Canada. He said he was not worried about legal action from the group and that IRCC officials would provide comment going forward.
Kneecap says no word from Canada
Kneecap’s manager Daniel Lambert told Global News in an email on Sept. 29 that neither he nor the group’s members have received any official notice about their electronic travel authorizations being denied or revoked.
“No notice on anything, just Vince’s social media video,” he wrote, referring to Gasparro.
In a statement, IRCC said it could not comment on Kneecap’s specific case due to privacy reasons and did not confirm whether a formal entry ban was ever put in place, or if one remains.
Global News was included on an email chain between bureaucrats and a spokesperson for Immigration Minister Lena Diab, who instructed the department’s media relations team to add a line to its “messaging for Kneecap moving forward” to note that “applicants are informed of their visa status through the email provided on their applications.”
The IRCC statement said anyone whose entry visa applications have been denied “can reapply for an eTA once they have addressed the reason(s) leading to the refusal of their application.”
A spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree’s office declined to comment when asked by Global News if Gasparro consulted with the minister before his announcement.
Tories, NDP up pressure on whether Gasparro ‘lied’
Conservative Deputy Leader Melissa Lantsman told Global News in an interview on Oct. 1 that Gasparro “either doesn’t know what’s what’s happening within his own government or clearly lied.”
“I would suspect that in any other workplace you would be reprimanded for that,” she said. “And in this case, you wouldn’t be a parliamentary secretary anymore.”
Lantsman said she would support a parliamentary investigation into the actions of Gasparro and the government in the matter, “to expose what they are not telling us.”
A spokesperson for Gasparro’s office, when asked again to clarify whether a ban was approved by officials, said he had “no further comment” in an email.
Immigration Minister Lena Diab ignored questions from reporters on Kneecap’s case while heading into a Liberal caucus meeting in Ottawa that same day.
When asked again if Kneecap’s members or its team have heard anything from the Canadian government, manager Lambert replied in an email: “Not a thing.”
NDP MP Jenny Kwan, the party’s immigration critic, has now sent a letter to Diab urging the minister to provide clarity on the case.
She said the lack of answers has given the appearance of “an arbitrary and politicized weaponization of public policy for political purposes.”
The letter asks Diab to confirm if Kneecap is indeed banned from entering Canada, whose approval Gasparro received to make his announcement, and whether the minister’s office or the Prime Minister’s Office had any advance notice.
Kwan, who called Gasparro a “rogue Liberal MP” on social media, also asks in her letter if there will be accountability if Gasparro acted unilaterally.
The NDP MP posed some of her questions to Diab directly during question period in the House of Commons on Oct. 2. The minister responded by reading nearly verbatim the IRCC statement from Sept. 29.
A spokesperson for Kwan says she will also submit a written order paper question on the issue, which will require the government to respond in writing within 45 days.
Kwan is also considering requesting a study at either the House of Commons ethics or immigration committee, but she will need a sitting member to support her call.
The NDP does not hold official party status and does not have a seat on either committee.
