Secret lab document impasse: Conservatives reject Liberal proposal
The Official Opposition has flatly rejected a Liberal proposal to create a new House of Commons committee to comb through sensitive material relating to the firing of two scientists at Canada’s highest-security laboratory.
“Your government’s efforts to find a suitable arrangement are many months too late,†said Conservative House leader Gerard Deltell in a letter sent Wednesday, responding to a proposal from Government House Leader Mark Holland.
Deltell’s letter outlines the reasoning for their refusal to sign on to the Liberal proposal, including that in their view, past calls to produce the documents have included adequate safeguards and skepticism over the Liberals’ intentions given what he called a “pattern of behaviour concerning parliamentary accountability.â€
The Conservatives have now asked House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota to rule that the Liberals continued refusal to disclose the documents is in breach of parliamentary privilege. Should Rota agree, they’ve stated an intention to present a motion calling for the seizure of the documents.
Amid an impasse over how to handle the documents, the Liberals had suggested that while information best held with National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP), they would be open to a separate body forming that would be advised by a panel of three former senior judges, to review the materials within a secure government facility.
Opposition parties have long fought for answers as to why Dr. Xiangguo Qiu and Dr. Keding Cheng were escorted out of Winnipeg’s National Microbiology Laboratory in July 2019 and terminated 18 months later by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).
There are also concerns and questions about whether their terminations are connected to the fact that four months before their removal, Qiu sent a shipment of Ebola and Henipah viruses to China's Wuhan Institute of Virology.
The push for documents has been ongoing for months, including in court, and saw the former head of PHAC admonished formally in House for failing to turn them over when ordered to.
The Liberal proposal would allow this new group of MPs to gain access “with appropriate safeguards,†to unredacted documents pertaining to the questions surrounding the laboratory in Winnipeg.
The committee would be formed under a similar structure as the one used by former prime minister Stephen Harper in 2010 to resolve calls by MPs who wanted access to documents related to the treatment of detainees in Afghanistan.
The Conservative position is that the two situations and the context in which the hundreds of pages of lab documents are being asked for is vastly different than when the thousands of pages were provided to Parliament under the then-Conservative government.
Despite the Conservatives’ rejection, Holland told CTVNews.ca on Wednesday that he’s “disappointed,†but is still optimistic the Liberals could come to a “reasonable and fair†understanding, with the backing of the Bloc Quebecois and New Democrats to form the committee in a way that doesn’t compromise national security.
“I'm beginning to think frankly, that the Conservatives don't want to see these documents. We've made an offer first for them to be seen at the National Security [and Intelligence] Committee of Parliamentarians, that was rejected. Now they're rejecting an offer to use the same system they themselves used,†he said.
“I think they're going to have a hard time explaining to Canadians on the one hand, their demand to see documents and their pretense that we're hiding them and yet, on the other hand, refuse to join a committee that actually lets them look at the documents,†said Holland.
With files from Â鶹´«Ã½â€™ Sarah Turnbull
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Boy abducted from California in 1951 at age 6 found alive on East Coast more than 70 years later
Luis Armando Albino was six years old in 1951 when he was abducted while playing at an Oakland, Calif., park. Now, more than seven decades later, Albino has been found thanks to help from an online ancestry test, old photos and newspaper clippings.
Justin Trudeau to be guest on 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' during New York visit
The prime minister's official itinerary says the interview will be shot during his trip to New York, where he is meeting with other world leaders ahead of the 78th gathering of the United Nations General Assembly.
An Edmonton man says he was in the wrong place at the wrong time when he was injured by members of the Edmonton Police Service last year.
Trudeau tells world leaders they 'have a responsibility' at UN Summit of the Future
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told delegates at the United Nations the world is at a global inflection point, having a choice between walking away from multilateralism or setting differences aside to confront serious global challenges.
The brother of a 27-year-old man who was fatally shot in Scarborough over the weekend has been arrested and charged in connection with his death, say police.
Kate, the Princess of Wales, makes first public appearance after cancer treatment
Kate, the Princess of Wales, made her first public appearance Sunday since she announced she had completed chemotherapy and would return to some public duties.
John Mulaney and Olivia Munn have second child, a daughter named Mei
Comedian John Mulaney and actor Olivia Munn now have a second child, a daughter named Mei June Mulaney.
Air Canada union head says she'll resign if pilots reject deal
The head of the Air Canada pilots union says she'll step down if members opt not to approve a tentative deal with the airline, raising the stakes as aviators mull whether to accept hefty salary gains or drive an even harder bargain.
The Royal Canadian Mint has introduced its latest Gold Maple Leaf bullion coin – made entirely from gold sourced from a single mine in northern Ontario
Local Spotlight
Cole Haas is more than just an avid fan of the F.W. Johnson Wildcats football team. He's a fixture on the sidelines, a source of encouragement, and a beloved member of the team.
Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.
An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.
They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.
A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.
Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.
The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.
It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.