Conservatives forcing a vote to create an Afghanistan response special committee

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.”