Excerpt:
Caught in a rare moment inside his Parliament Hill office, Immigration and Multiculturalism minister Jason Kenney is finished his interview with Fox News to talk about American military deserters seeking refuge in Canada. And an interview with a B.C. television station to discuss the case of a Chinese grandmother needing a special permit to visit Canada to tend to an injured grandson. And a TV reporter wanting to talk about Croatian visa policy. At the same time, his communications staff was fielding calls from reporters about the government's decision to ban British MP George Galloway from visiting Canada, as well as the latest turn in a public battle with the Canadian Arab Federation, and reports on abuses in Canada's refugee system - after finally managing to put aside, for now, the media and political fallout from the minister's comments days earlier about strengthening language proficiency requirements for new citizens.
For the past few weeks, and despite pressing matters in portfolios related to the economy, Mr. Kenney has arguably been the most public face of the federal Conservative government, daily stickhandling everything from tricky, politically charged issues, with accusations of racism and unethical political interference, to local-interest immigration sagas. It is, Mr. Kenney admits, an "emotionally draining ... tough position." But, for Mr. Kenney, a full-fledged Cabinet minister for not quite six months, the most challenging and politically perilous work planned for his portfolio - reshaping Canada's approach to immigration and multiculturalism - has scarcely begun.