Close X
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
ADVT 
National

Tories end boycott of national security committee

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 22 Feb, 2022 05:03 PM
  • Tories end boycott of national security committee

OTTAWA - The federal Conservatives are ending their boycott of a special national security and intelligence committee made up of MPs and senators.

Interim Conservative leader Candice Bergen announced the reversal on Tuesday, saying she was writing to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to have Tory MPs Michelle Rempel Garner and Rob Morrison appointed to the committee.

"I believe it’s important for Conservatives to have a voice and presence on the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP) during these historic times," Bergen said in a statement.

Bergen also moved to shake up the official Opposition’s critic portfolios, with former cabinet minister Ed Fast taking over as the Conservatives' point person on finance after Pierre Poilievre stepped down to run for the party leadership.

The decision to end the NSICOP boycott comes two months after then-Conservative leader Erin O'Toole said Conservatives were boycotting the all-party committee, which was created in 2017 to review sensitive matters.

O'Toole said the boycott was to protest the Liberal government’s refusal to hand over unredacted documents related to the firing of two scientists from Canada’s highest security laboratory in Winnipeg.

Bergen on Tuesday said Conservatives would continue "demanding answers and documents related to the national microbiology lab in Winnipeg," while also pushing to make the committee more accountable to Parliament.

Opposition parties banded together last spring to order the Public Health Agency of Canada to hand over the documents to the now-defunct special committee on Canada-China relations.

The Liberal government gave them to NSICOP instead, arguing that it was the more appropriate body to review sensitive material that could jeopardize national security.

That committee submits classified reports to the prime minister, which are later tabled in Parliament in edited form. Its members must have top security clearance and are bound to secrecy.

At the time, House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota ruled that NSICOP is not a committee of Parliament and, therefore, not an acceptable alternative to having a Commons committee examine the documents.

In a December letter, O’Toole alleged NSICOP had “become a committee of the Prime Minister’s Office” and has been used by Trudeau’s government “to avoid accountability and that is diminishing its credibility.”

He said changes were required to the legislation creating the committee to establish it as a standing Commons committee that reports to Parliament, not the prime minister.

PHAC has said the matter of the scientists’ firing is related to “a possible breach of security protocols” and is under police investigation.

The opposition believes the documents they’ve demanded will show why Xiangguo Qiu and her husband Keding Cheng were escorted out of Winnipeg’s National Microbiology Laboratory in July 2019 and subsequently fired in January 2021.

They also want to see documents related to the transfer, overseen by Qiu, of deadly Ebola and Henipah viruses to China’s Wuhan Institute of Virology in March 2019.

Former PHAC president Iain Stewart had assured MPs the transfer had nothing to do with the subsequent firings of Qiu and her husband and that there was no connection to COVID-19, which first appeared in China’s Wuhan province.

Opposition parties continue to suspect a link despite those assurances.

MORE National ARTICLES

Truck convoy expected to delay traffic in GTA: OPP

Truck convoy expected to delay traffic in GTA: OPP
OPP say the convoy, which started in British Columbia, is expected to be coming through the region until Saturday — the day of the so-called "freedom rally" on Parliament Hill.

Truck convoy expected to delay traffic in GTA: OPP

Trudeau isolating after COVID-19 exposure

Trudeau isolating after COVID-19 exposure
Trudeau said the result of a rapid antigen test he took was negative, but he is following local public health rules and isolating for five days. He said he will be working from home during that stretch.

Trudeau isolating after COVID-19 exposure

A woman and her 1 year old child assaulted by a man in Surrey

A woman and her 1 year old child assaulted by a man in Surrey
The man, who is unknown to both victims, allegedly uttered threats and then assaulted the mother and child. Bystanders held the man until police arrived and arrested him.

A woman and her 1 year old child assaulted by a man in Surrey

4 bodies found in Richmond home, IHIT investigating

4 bodies found in Richmond home, IHIT investigating
Sgt. David Lee of the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the identities of the four people aren't yet being released. He says one of the deceased had a valid firearms licence and access to guns.    

4 bodies found in Richmond home, IHIT investigating

2,086 COVID19 cases for Wednesday

2,086 COVID19 cases for Wednesday
There are 30,058 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 282,189 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 949 COVID-positive individuals are in hospital and 136 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.

2,086 COVID19 cases for Wednesday

1,446 COVID19 cases for Tuesday

1,446 COVID19 cases for Tuesday
There are 32,468 active cases of COVID-19 in the province, and 277,285 people who tested positive have recovered. Of the active cases, 985 COVID-positive individuals are in hospital and 144 are in intensive care. The remaining people are recovering at home in self-isolation.

1,446 COVID19 cases for Tuesday