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Employee suspended from Conservative MP's office following alleged insensitive comments

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REGINA -

An employee at a Regina Conservative MP’s office has been suspended from his duties following allegations of insensitive comments toward a constituent.

Kashif Jamali is a financial accountant in Regina. He told CTV News he contacted the office of Regina—Wascana MP Michael Kram to obtain a letter of reference on a government matter. Jamali presented a proposed draft of the letter, and it was during this interaction that alleged insensitive comments were made.

“He said, ‘you should improve your English before coming to an MP’s office’ and during this conversation, he added that Canadian MP’s are not here to help immigrants,” Jamali told CTV News.

He shared his concerns about the interaction in a Facebook post.

“The problem isn’t that [the] MP's assistant feels ‘Yikes’ about our accent and English, the problem is it’s coming from [a] federal MP’s office, who we voted to be our voice and stand against racism,” Jamali wrote on Facebook.

Kram was not available for an interview on Thursday, but confirmed to CTV News that the employee against whom allegations were made has been suspended, pending an internal investigation.

“This investigation, which will be done in consultation with the House of Commons Human Resources department, will be conducted on the basis of the best practices of HR and ordinary justice,” Kram said. “This is to say that there will be presumption of innocence, a right to a defence and that the investigation will be based on evidence not hearsay.”

He also said that if evidence of wrongdoing is presented, the employee in question will face disciplinary action “commensurate with the assessed severity of the offences.”

Kram has been in office for nearly two years since defeating long-time Liberal MP Ralph Goodale in the 2019 federal election.

Jamali says he has also had positive experiences dealing with Kram’s staff. He is pleased that his concern is being taken seriously.

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