T
The Mississauga Muse
Guest
Khan's newest trip is SO SECRET, there won't even BE a written report.
"(Khan) will discuss his findings with the Prime Minister,
I mean SERIOUSLY. How CONTEMPTUOUS to the Public is that!
Mar 12, 2007 Article Print Article                
THE MISSISSAUGA NEWS
MP on the road again
Torstar Network
Mar 12, 2007
Streetsville MP Wajid Khan, is back on the road for four days of high-level meetings in Afghanistan and Pakistan with foreign officials, Canadian diplomats and soldiers.
But the government is taking steps to avoid a repeat of the controversy that dogged Khan when he refused to release a report into a fact-finding mission in the Middle East last fall, as he had promised.
This time, the Mississauga MP simply won't produce a report.
"(Khan) will discuss his findings with the Prime Minister, but he is not expected to prepare a written report," said Alain Cacchione, a Foreign Affairs spokesperson.
The Conservative MP, who was first elected as a Liberal in 2004, is starting his trip in Afghanistan, where he'll meet government officials, diplomats, non-governmental organizations and Canadian soldiers.
He'll later meet political leaders and government officials in Pakistan "to discuss issues concerning regional security and democratic governance."
The visit to Pakistan comes just weeks after Harper joined the United States to publicly criticize the ally for harbouring Taliban fighters along the porous border with Afghanistan.
Khan accepted the job as Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper's special adviser on Middle Eastern and Central Asian affairs last summer when he was a Liberal MP.
In January, Khan crossed the floor to join the Conservative caucus.
The intrigue surrounding Khan's political defection ignited opposition critics, including some of his former Liberal benchmates, after the government refused to make public a report into Khan's 19-day trip in September to Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Israel and Lebanon.
Khan had promised to table the report in the House of Commons for all MPs to read when he accepted the posting.
In February, Foreign Affairs officials revealed that Sam Hanson, a policy co-ordinator in the department's Middle East and North Africa Bureau, had assisted Khan in organizing and synthesizing the themes that emerged from the series of September meetings, the Canadian Press reported.
In response to an official request for a copy of Khan's report, bureaucrats responded that there were "no records related to your request."
"(Khan) will discuss his findings with the Prime Minister,
I mean SERIOUSLY. How CONTEMPTUOUS to the Public is that!
Mar 12, 2007 Article Print Article                
THE MISSISSAUGA NEWS
MP on the road again
Torstar Network
Mar 12, 2007
Streetsville MP Wajid Khan, is back on the road for four days of high-level meetings in Afghanistan and Pakistan with foreign officials, Canadian diplomats and soldiers.
But the government is taking steps to avoid a repeat of the controversy that dogged Khan when he refused to release a report into a fact-finding mission in the Middle East last fall, as he had promised.
This time, the Mississauga MP simply won't produce a report.
"(Khan) will discuss his findings with the Prime Minister, but he is not expected to prepare a written report," said Alain Cacchione, a Foreign Affairs spokesperson.
The Conservative MP, who was first elected as a Liberal in 2004, is starting his trip in Afghanistan, where he'll meet government officials, diplomats, non-governmental organizations and Canadian soldiers.
He'll later meet political leaders and government officials in Pakistan "to discuss issues concerning regional security and democratic governance."
The visit to Pakistan comes just weeks after Harper joined the United States to publicly criticize the ally for harbouring Taliban fighters along the porous border with Afghanistan.
Khan accepted the job as Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper's special adviser on Middle Eastern and Central Asian affairs last summer when he was a Liberal MP.
In January, Khan crossed the floor to join the Conservative caucus.
The intrigue surrounding Khan's political defection ignited opposition critics, including some of his former Liberal benchmates, after the government refused to make public a report into Khan's 19-day trip in September to Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, Israel and Lebanon.
Khan had promised to table the report in the House of Commons for all MPs to read when he accepted the posting.
In February, Foreign Affairs officials revealed that Sam Hanson, a policy co-ordinator in the department's Middle East and North Africa Bureau, had assisted Khan in organizing and synthesizing the themes that emerged from the series of September meetings, the Canadian Press reported.
In response to an official request for a copy of Khan's report, bureaucrats responded that there were "no records related to your request."