Conservatives end boycott of Parliament’s 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 this afternoon, saying Tory MPs Michelle Rempel Garner and Rob Morrison will represent the party on the committee.

The move came two months after then-Conservative leader Erin O’Toole said the official Opposition was 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 today promised the Tories would continue to press for those documents, but said it was important for Conservatives to have a voice and presence on the committee during what she described as these “historic times.”

Bergen also announced she was shaking up her party’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.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 22, 2022.

The Canadian Press