Kenney on defensive over restaurant award

Canada's Citizenship and Immigration Minister defended himself Wednesday against allegations he isblurring the line between his ministerial and political functions.

The Liberals, NDP and Bloc Quebecois all challenged Jason Kenney in question period over what they say is a second example of the minister abusingHouse of Commons resources.

The opposition parties are going after Kenney becausehe gave a certificate with the House logo and the title "Minister's Award for Excellence" to an Ottawa Chinese restaurant.

Liberal immigration critic Justin Trudeau accused Kenney of holding new immigrants hostage for political games and abusing their vulnerability, but Kenney fought back.

"We are very proud of the record of this government with regard to the hopes and values of new Canadians and that is why I see increasing support from our ethnic communities for the Conservative party," said Kenney.

In response to an accusation from the Bloc Quebecois that he is not separating his roles, Kenney said, "I obviously see the distinction." He said he defends Canadian citizenship while the Bloc Quebecois tries to put an end to it.

The parties had already been accusing Kenney of mixing his role of minister with partisan activities because of a fundraising letter and media strategy outlining a plan to increase support among "very ethnic" voters in the Greater Toronto Area.

The materials mistakenly ended up in the hands of NDP MP Linda Duncan on March 3, who shared them with the media.

Kenney was in Pakistan last week when the controversy began and has been fielding questions on it all week. He says he has taken responsibility for the"administrative mistake" made inhis office by apologizing and accepting the resignation of hisstaffer.

The Commons ethics committee voted 5-4 Monday afternoon to call Kasra Nejatian, the Kenney staffer who sent the letter, to appear before it today. CBC News has learned he's not in Ottawa and won't be at the committee, which could lead the committee to issue a summons.

Opposition members on the committee voted together, and also defeated a government motion to force opposition MPs Linda Duncan and Shawn Murphy to testify as well. The Conservatives have complained those MPs'parliamentary emails or offices have also been involved in fundraising.

Money sought for campaign

The letter, seeking help from Conservative riding associations to raise $200,000 to implement the media strategy, was sent on Kenney's ministerial letterhead.

The opposition accused Kenney of misusing parliamentary resources for Conservative party fundraising. They say he shouldn't have been championing the ethnic voter strategy at all, given his role as citizenship and immigration minister, and that it should be him who loses his job, not his staff member.

The planned media strategy developed by the Conservative Party, titled "Breaking Through: Building the Conservative Brand," came up at an Albertacaucus meeting last Tuesday night, Kenney explained to reporters this week.

Kenney said he indicated to his colleagues that his riding association would be contributing to the fundraising effort and that some fellow Tory MPs requested more information about it. Kenney said he normally would have passed on the materials personally but he couldn't because of the rush he was in to leave the country for his trip to Pakistan.

"I asked my staff just simply to make sure that that information got transmitted and not to use government resources in its transmission. That implicitly meant using my political Gmail account to send information that I personally wasn't able to because I was on an airplane," said Kenney.

"The mistake was made. It was an unfortunate error."