OTTAWA — Liberal MPs on the House of Commons national security committee have thwarted a Conservative bid to summon the government's national security adviser over the Jaspal Atwal affair.
Tory MPs on the committee wanted Daniel Jean to appear before the committee to explain a media briefing last week that suggested factions in the Indian government had tried to sabotage Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's trip to India.
In the briefing, Jean suggested Atwal's invitation to events with Trudeau in Mumbai was arranged by factions within the Indian government who want to prevent Prime Minister Narendra Modi from getting too cosy with a foreign government they believe is not committed to a united India.
Atwal — a B.C. Sikh convicted of trying to kill an Indian cabinet minister in 1986 — attended a reception in Mumbai, where he was photographed with Trudeau's wife. An invitation to a later reception in New Delhi was rescinded as soon as news broke that Atwal was on the guest list.
Liberals used their majority on the committee to adjourn debate on the Conservative motion to summon Jean to testify.
MUST WATCH: Ralph Goodale speaks to reporters after testifying at Public Safety/National Security committee re: Atwal invite in India. Then after fleeing cameras, Randeep Sarai comes around the corner. https://t.co/JfkrXncGv5 #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/rFoVIhbkIF
— Michel Boyer (@BoyerMichel) March 1, 2018
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale, testifying at the committee on an unrelated matter, had little to say to journalists about the controversy beyond repeating the prime minister's message that non-partisan, professional public servants should be respected.
Trudeau, in Montreal to promote his government's federal budget, also continued to face questions about the affair Thursday. And even as he appeared to lay the blame for the matter squarely at the feet of Liberal MP Randeep Sarai, the one who invited Atwal, he too continued to lend credence to the theory put forward in Jean's briefing.
"The individual in question never should have received an invitation, and the member of Parliament responsible for extending that invitation has taken responsibility and apologized for it," Trudeau said.
"On top of that, I continue to trust and support our national security agencies and officials, and when they highlight that there are concerns around a particular issue, I trust them and I believe them."
This is what it looks like when Justin Trudeau’s Liberals are afraid of answering straightforward questions. https://t.co/AnFMZj6vU5
— Andrew Scheer (@AndrewScheer) March 1, 2018
Public safety minister Ralph Goodale just gave an epic scrum in which he walked down the hallway after committee only to bump into...Randeep Sarai, the MP who invited Atwal to the event in India
— Laura Stone (@l_stone) March 1, 2018
