OTTAWA - Stephen Harper's office won't disclose the names of people who met with MP Wajid Khan during his tour of the Middle East, much less the report he submitted to the prime minister.
Harper spokesman Dimitri Soudas said Wednesday that Khan met with "government officials, stakeholders, NGOs (non-governmental organizations), members of our own diplomatic corp'' during his 19-day tour of the strife-torn region last September.
But he wouldn't provide any more specific information, even though the names of some of Khan's contacts have been reported in the media.
A foreign affairs spokeswoman was similarly non-forthcoming, referring the question to Harper's office.
Harper has been under unrelenting opposition pressure to release the report Khan submitted after his $13,000 jaunt to Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
Khan was sitting as a Liberal when he undertook last summer to become the prime minister's special adviser on the Middle East. At the time, he promised to share his findings and recommendations with MPs from all parties.
However, Khan formally defected to the Conservatives earlier this month and has bowed to the judgment of his new boss, whose office insists that advice to the prime minister must remain confidential.
Tory insiders argue that some of the people who met with Khan did so on the proviso that their tete-a-tetes be kept secret, for personal security reasons. While Khan's report might not be particularly sensitive, they also note that the prime minister has many advisers and contend it would be unwise to set a precedent of publicly disclosing any of the advice he receives.
In any event, Tories say at least Khan actually produced a report, which is more than some of former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin's advisers did.
Access to Information requests for any documents regarding the work of Sophia Leung and Sarkis Assadourian, two former Liberal MPs, were returned marked "no records found.''
But Khan is also embroiled in another controversy, involving huge loans that his Mississauga car dealership gave his former Liberal riding association to finance Khan's 2004 and 2006 election campaigns.
His former association is now officially defunct and the loans are unlikely to ever be repaid, which Liberals and New Democrats suggest might render them illegal corporate contributions.
In a possible sign that Conservatives may be losing their enthusiasm for their newest recruit, Treasury Board President Vic Toews cancelled a speech he was to have given Thursday morning in Khan's riding and in the presence of the MP.
