Ten months ago, I wrote a column commending Maryam Monsef. I praised her as an exemplarity Canadian and a model refugee.

Like many Canadians, I was impressed by her story – an Afghan refugee who experienced personal tragedy and great hardship, escaped hell-on-earth, and made it to Canada. Not only did she find a better life here, she excelled and became a leader in her community.

On the surface, Monsef is exactly what we want all immigrants to become. She integrated into our society and embraced Canadian values and culture. Monsef truly became Canadian.

Back on December 9, 2015, I wrote an open letter to Syrian refugees arriving in Canada and told them they could learn from Maryam Monsef and “follow in the footsteps of great Canadians who started out as refugees, and rose to significant prominence in Canadian public life.”

I continued, “look at Canada’s current Minister of Democratic Institutions, Maryam Monsef, who was born in Afghanistan. When the Soviets invaded and her father was killed, her mother moved the family to Canada and they resettled in the small community of Peterborough, Ontario.”

In another column, dated November 6, 2015, I applauded Monsef and held her up as a refugee who achieved “exceptional success.” That column focused on security concerns related to our refugee policy, and I specifically noted that Monsef was an example of a person who was obviously not a threat to Canada’s national security.

I still believe that Monsef is a success story for Canadian immigration and integration. However, the controversy surrounding where and when she was born – Iran in 1984, not Afghanistan in 1985 as she had previously stated – and when she learned the truth, deserve proper scrutiny and more answers.

Monsef says she only found out recently from her mother that her actual birthplace was Iran, but there are politicians and journalists in her riding that say questions about this were raised long before the issue became public.

If Monsef’s mother lied on her application, that could be citizenship fraud.

The punishment for that type of fraud is often citizenship revocation and deportation.

That may seem like a harsh penalty, and perhaps it is, but that is the law. And it’s a law the Trudeau government enforces and defends. Even for children whose parents made the mistake.

Immigration minister John McCallum mused in the Senate last week that he would consider placing a moratorium on citizenship revocation, but a few days later the government tabled documents stating the opposite.

The public deserves to know whether Monsef became a Canadian as a result of fraud, and if so, whether Canada’s longstanding law will be applied to Monsef and her sisters.

Just because we like Maryam Monsef doesn’t mean that rules shouldn’t apply to her.

Canada is a country of laws. Laws that must be applied in an equal and unbiased way.

We have strict guidelines and expectations when it comes to our refugee program. It is designed to help those who are the most in need and the least well-off. All that we ask is that these refugees follow our rules and tell us the truth.

This week, I asked Monsef’s office if she would answer a few basic questions about her refugee application. I asked to see a copy of her personal immigration file.

Her office refused. Instead partisan Liberal have intensified their campaign of hiding from questions and attacking those who ask questions.

That won’t discourage journalists from asking more questions. If anything, it’ll make us dig even deeper.

Maryam Monsef may still be a model refugee. But she needs to clear the air and answer more questions from Canadians.