During the first Parliament Hill protest in Ottawa, Jack Layton had called for an emergency debate on 4 February, gathering all members of parliament at the House of Commons. It had occurred despite the absence of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. A few members of parliament, such as John McCallum and Robert Oliphant, brought up concerns of whether the aid the government sends, which was announced to be C$3 million, would successfully reach the affected civilians or not. Canada's Minister of State for the Americas Peter Kent, in an argument, suggested that extortions and funds underlying of the LTTE may still be present in Toronto. Immediately, Liberal member of parliament Jim Karygiannis assured that there were no cases of such extortions in recent times after phoning a few national security agencies. Kent reflected back, saying that both the LTTE and the Sri Lanka Army must drop their weapons in order for the war to end. Karygiannis stated that the wish of his constituency, Scarborough—Agincourt, was that the ceasefire should not be initiated by the Government of Sri Lanka or by the Government of India but should be a United Nations-initiated, internationally sponsored ceasefire. Liberal member of parliament Irwin Cotler condemned Sri Lanka's restrictions on international humanitarian aid, journalists and media to reach the affected areas of northern Sri Lanka, which has been in place for several years. He suggested to bring forth an immediate ceasefire and begin negotiation talks. The United Nations, too, were condemned for not taking an active part in ending the civil war. Deepak Obhrai, a Conservative member of parliament, was the only member to label the LTTE at fault, referring to the assassination of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.