Today, the Senate Select Committee held its 36th session in the ongoing Senate Hearings on Immigration. After 4 days of testimony from the current Immigration Director, the Senate Committee today called her boss, the CEO in charge of Immigration, Edmund Zuniga, to testify.
It was a short 2-hour conversation, where the senators mostly confirmed details of the administrative changes that have been implemented at the Immigration Department to prevent the type of abuses seen in the audit period of 2011 to 2013.
So, it was mostly things which we, and by extension, you, the viewer already knew, but there were 2 interesting topics which the Senate brought up with CEO Zuniga. The first was introduced by Business Senator Mark Lizarraga, who wanted to know if the Ministry has any intention of engaging the Police Department to investigate the many actionable cases of fraud and forgery exposed in the Auditor General's report. As you've been hearing, the witnesses have been sort of washing their hands of responsibility for initiating any real police intervention, and Senator Lizarraga wanted Zuniga's opinion on that issue:
Mark Lizarraga - Senator, Private Sector
"We've seen lots of wrong doings in these reports. What are you doing about those wrong doings that have been highlighted?"
Edmund Zuniga
"We've reviewed the reports with that in mind. I would say that at this point in time some of the actions that can be taken were already taken. There were public officers in the immigration department who were taken before the public service's commission. But of course we all know the outcome of those meetings with the public service's commission."
"One of the things about the auditor general's report speaking from my own experience as a former auditor general, is that when an auditor general report is completed and there are issues of fraud or theft or whatever, those reports are copied to the commissioner of police and the director of public prosecutions for them to start doing their own part of the investigation. Now whether or not that happen in this case I don't know, but really it's not - while we will do some investigation or while we have done some investigation at the level of the ministry and the department, real investigation for fraud is a matter for the law enforcement agencies."
"The director of immigration or even the CEO of immigration can't really give directions to the commissioner of police. You can follow up."
Mark Lizarraga - Senator, Private Sector
"No, she said to ensure that. I mean it means that you have to make a report. You have to say you know we have so and so, invite them to look at it."
Edmund Zuniga
"I think it's a matter for the police to take the initiative once the report has been pass to them."
Mark Lizarraga - Senator, Private Sector
"Based on what you have seen CEO, would you agree that the cases that the auditor general raises, that needs investigation. Would you agree that they need in fact investigation?"
Edmund Zuniga
"Certainly, the auditor general's recommendations should not be taken lightly by anybody."
Mark Lizarraga - Senator, Private Sector
"And it is your view that these investigations should have commenced already?"
Edmund Zuniga
"It is up to the commissioner of police to instruct or to take on investigations without prompting from anybody."
Mark Lizarraga - Senator, Private Sector
"Have you heard the statement made saying well we are awaiting the report of the senate select committee to see where to go?"
Edmund Zuniga
"Yes, I've heard that."
Mark Lizarraga - Senator, Private Sector
"Do you think CEO that you should have perhaps prompted and said look after you read this, a gentle reminder or something to that effect..."
Edmund Zuniga
"Well I have not given the police any reminders of what their function is. Let me just put it that way."
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