Opposition Progressive Conservatives: Legislature

The Canadian Press Dept: The documents, obtained by The Canadian Press under Manitoba's freedom of information law, shed new light on the extent to which efforts were made to fill the legislature's public gallery April 19 while the province criticized federal changes to immigration programs, according to Winnipeg Free Press. The email has been criticized by the Opposition Progressive Conservatives as an attempt by the government to use civil servants and new Canadians for a political rally. The Tories complained to legislature Speaker Daryl Reid, who said some of the email recipients may have felt intimidated into attending the debate, but the matter was outside his jurisdiction and wINNIPEG - Newly released documents show more Manitoba bureaucrats than first believed were involved in an effort to have immigrants attend a legislature debate in a show of support for the NDP government. To date, only the assistant deputy minister of immigration, Ben Rempel, has been named as being behind the effort. Rempel sent out an email to immigrant support agencies and other groups asking them to attend the debate led by Immigration Minister Christine Melnick. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.