Liberals Continue Being Upset With Wajid Khan
The Liberal Party of Canada is still pissed with MP Wajid Khan's jump to the Conservative Party.
The Liberal leader did call for the public release of Khan’s report for the Harper government, which cost Canadian taxpayers almost $13,000, according to a travel and hospitality expense report posted Thursday by Foreign Affairs.
The government paid $12,764.50 for Khan’s 19-day, fact-finding mission to the Middle East, including$7,903.91 in air fare, $3,173.20 for hotels and $1,687.19 for meals and incidentals. The mission took Khan to Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Israel and Lebanon last September.
Harper said Khan’s report was thorough, thoughtful and useful and that the MP will soon head off on a second fact-finding tour in Central Asia.
Dion said the government had promised to make the report public and that needs to happen.
"On behalf of the Canadian people we need to know if there is a report, and we need to see it."
At a news conference last week to announce Mr. Khan was joining the Conservatives, Prime Minister Stephen Harper insisted he did not ask Mr. Khan to cross the floor. Rather, he blamed Liberal leader Stephane Dion for forcing Mr. Khan to choose between his Liberal caucus membership and his role as special advisor to the Prime Minister on Middle East affairs.
How long has Mississauga-Streetsville MP Wajid Khan's defection from the Liberals to the Conservatives been in the works? That's the question that maverick MP Garth Turner is asking, in view of the fact that Khan's most likely challenger for the Tory nomination received a plum appointment earlier this year.
New Democrat MP Peter Stoffer said the fact the report won't be released casts a shadow over Khan's work.
What follows is the announcement by Harper of Khan's bipartisan work with the government prior to his crossing the floor.
"Canada’s commitment in Afghanistan has focused the country’s attention on these regions," Mr. Khan said. "I support our commitment in Afghanistan and offered my services to the Prime Minister as Canada plans for the future. I will report to him on my first-hand experiences and observations from these regions."
