Conservatives forcing a vote to create an Afghanistan response special committee
Conservatives forcing a vote to create an Afghanistan response special committee
OTTAWA -
The Conservatives want to create a special all-party House of Commons committee to study the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban and the government’s response, and will be forcing a vote on a motion calling for the prime minister to testify and turn over relevant documents.
As his party’s first opposition day motion of the 44th Parliament, on Tuesday Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole will be putting forward a motion proposing the creation of this committee to conduct hearings into what happened earlier this year when Afghanistan fell.
Specifically, the Conservatives want to examine what contingency planning Canada had in place, its evacuations of Canadians, and efforts to bring to Canada Afghan interpreters and others who previously helped the Canadian Armed Forces in the region.
They are looking to call Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as well as both the current and former ministers who led on the file over the summer including Harjit Sajjan, Marco Mendicino, and Marc Garneau. The motion also compels a quick turning over of federal documents, emails, notes and other records related to Canada’s evacuation effort from several departments including the Prime Minister’s Office.
“The Liberal government has brought less than 10 per cent of the Afghan refugees to Canada that they promised,” O’Toole said Monday, during a press conference speaking about the Official Opposition’s agenda for the week ahead. “This committee will help Canadians understand why they failed to act.”
The Conservatives want the committee to be comprised much like other House committees, with proportional distribution of members based on standing in the House. The motion states the committee should hold its first meeting no later than Dec. 17, and finalize its report within six months of the motion passing.
The motion will be up for debate on Tuesday, and likely voted on later in the week.
A similar approach to enact a special cross-party study into a pressing foreign affairs topic was taken at the start of the last parliament by O’Toole.
For the Conservatives’ first opposition day of the 43rd Parliament, they proposed and later got opposition backing to create a special Canada-China committee that focused on the state of the relationship between the two countries.
On Thursday, which will also be a Conservative opposition day, O’Toole said he’ll be advancing a second motion, this one aimed at holding the government to account “for their failure to address the cost of living crisis that is pricing families out of their homes and driving up the cost of everyday goods.”
Specifically, the Conservatives will be calling on the government to act on something that was a Conservative campaign promise: to “review and consolidate all federal real estate and properties in Canada in order to make at least 15 per cent available for residential development,” and commit to not introduce a capital gains tax on primary residences.
This motion is based on the premise that, in O’Toole’s view, the government has failed to increase the housing supply in Canada and that the government’s spending has caused “a surge of inflationary pressure” driving home prices up. Should other parties back this motion, they’d be getting behind that sentiment.
A New Democrat MP is trying to convince his colleagues to change the rules that govern the House of Commons in a series of ways he says would instill 'democratic controls' on the prime minister's 'unfettered' powers.
Monday morning, the Public Service Alliance of Canada announced it had reached a 'tentative' agreement with the federal government for the 120,000 picketing Treasury Board workers who, since April 19, had been engaged in one of the largest strikes in Canadian history. Here's a rundown of the developments from Parliament Hill as they happened.
The House committee studying foreign election interference heard from top 2019 and 2021 Liberal and Conservative campaign directors on Tuesday, with party officials from both camps speaking about the need for politicians to come together to address any "legislative gaps" ahead of the next vote.
In the 2023 federal budget, the government is unveiling continued deficit spending targeted at Canadians' pocketbooks, public health care and the clean economy.
U.S President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have announced updates on a number of cross-border issues, after a day of meetings on Parliament Hill.
Danielle Smith's win in the Alberta election hands her the most starkly divided province confronting any premier in Canada, writes commentator Don Martin.
Special rapporteur David Johnston didn't recommend public inquiry knowing it was a pathetically insufficient response for a foreign democratic assault of this magnitude, writes Don Martin in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca.
To frame a few new illustrations on pages tucked inside a passport as proof of a Liberal plot to purge the Canadian historical record seems like a severe stretch, writes Don Martin in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino is a bright former federal prosecutor, who was destined to be a star in Justin Trudeau's cabinet. But in an opinion column on CTVNews.ca, Don Martin argues Mendicino has taken a stunning fall from grace, stumbling badly on important issues just 18 months into the job.
It's the most peculiar of elections with the frontrunner and her main opponent being the same person, writes columnist Don Martin. 'In the looming Alberta showdown, it's Premier Danielle Smith versus her mouth.'
Seventeen people – most of whom are young students – were hospitalized after a falling from a height during a field trip at Winnipeg's Fort Gibraltar. However, many of the children are now being discharged and sent home, according to an update from the hospital.
A new survey has found that one in four menstruating women in Canada have had to choose between paying for period products or other essentials such as food or rent.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's efforts to assure Canadians that his government is adequately addressing the threat of foreign interference took a hit on Wednesday, when the majority of MPs in the House of Commons voted for special rapporteur David Johnston to 'step aside,' a call Johnston quickly rejected.
Amid interest rate hikes and high inflation, more Canadians are turning to credit for relief, with consumer debt hitting a new record in the first quarter of 2023.
Seventeen people – most of whom are young students – were hospitalized after a falling from a height during a field trip at Winnipeg's Fort Gibraltar. However, many of the children are now being discharged and sent home, according to an update from the hospital.
Four Canadian cities have been ranked among the top 50 best for remote work worldwide, according to a new report from Preply, an online learning provider platform
Ontario Provincial Police have arrested a 21-year-old man from Ottawa in connection with the shooting deaths of two teens from Mississauga in Pembroke, Ont. A third teenager, also from Mississauga, was injured.
The powerful sister of North Korean Kim Jong Un on Thursday accused the United States of 'gangster-like' hypocrisy for criticizing her country's failed launch of a military spy satellite and insisted that the North will follow with a successful launch soon.
Families of passengers who died in the crash of a Boeing 737 Max in Ethiopia can seek damages for the pain and terror suffered by victims in the minutes before the plane flew nose-down into the ground, a federal judge has ruled.
He's heir to the throne in one of the oldest monarchies in the Middle East and a descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. She's a Saudi architect with an aristocratic pedigree of her own.
The six-story building in downtown Davenport partially collapsed just before 5 p.m. Sunday, but it took hours before rescuers found Peach Berry trapped in the rubble and then determined one of her legs would need to be amputated to pull her free. Lexus Berry gave her assent.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's efforts to assure Canadians that his government is adequately addressing the threat of foreign interference took a hit on Wednesday, when the majority of MPs in the House of Commons voted for special rapporteur David Johnston to 'step aside,' a call Johnston quickly rejected.
It's that time of year again where MPs will be sitting until midnight until the House rises in late June, as the federal government pushes to pass as many bills as it can before the summer legislative hiatus. On Wednesday, Government House Leader Mark Holland announced that the Commons will be working late 'every single night … from here until the finish.'
The federal government is looking to better protect cabinet ministers and MPs as the threats against them continue to grow, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday.
A new survey has found that one in four menstruating women in Canada have had to choose between paying for period products or other essentials such as food or rent.
Statistics Canada says fewer fresh fruits and vegetables were available to Canadians in 2022, due to factors such as ongoing supply chain issues, labour shortages and price increases.
Facebook owner Meta Platforms said on Wednesday it would remove news content in its home state of California if the state government passed legislation forcing tech companies to pay publishers for journalistic content.
A third man has been charged in the 2002 shooting death of Run-DMC star Jam Master Jay, prosecutors said Tuesday, marking the latest movement in a case that languished for years.
"That '70s Show" star Danny Masterson was led out in handcuffs from a Los Angeles courtroom Wednesday and could get 30 years to life in prison after a jury found him guilty on two of three counts of rape at his second trial, in which the Church of Scientology played a central role.
Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) said Wednesday venture capital lending dropped in 2022 and is expected to remain slow as companies grapple with higher interest rates, a wave of tech layoffs and the fallout from the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank.
To avert a dangerous U.S. default, the House was heading toward approval of a debt ceiling and budget cuts package late Wednesday, as President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy assembled a bipartisan coalition of centrist Democrats and Republicans against fierce conservative blowback and progressive dissent.
Confidence on the Scripps National Spelling Bee stage manifests itself in subtle ways, like spellers asking questions even though they know the answers.
Locals call it "watermelon salad." But this delicacy popular in the southern Gaza Strip at this time of year is far from the sweet, refreshing taste the name evokes.
A 15-year-old soccer player has died after suffering severe brain injuries during a post-match brawl with an opposing team at an international youth tournament in Germany over the weekend, officials said Wednesday.
French Sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said Wednesday that Novak Djokovic's political message about Kosovo was 'not appropriate' and warned the former top-ranked Serb player that he should not do it again.
The U.S. government's auto safety agency plans to require that all new passenger cars and light trucks include potentially life-saving automatic emergency braking and meet stricter safety standards within three years.
Ever have a car with a difficult-to-reach seatbelt? This recall is for you. Ford is having to recall 176,000 of its Ford Bronco SUVs, model years 2021 to 2023, because the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found that drivers and front seat passengers can have difficulty reaching the metal portion of the belt when it is in the retracted position.
