A Parliamentary committee meeting turned heated on Wednesday as opposition members demanded government ministers release the number of people transferred into Afghan custody by Canadian soldiers.

Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor, who has faced repeated calls for his resignation in recent weeks over his handling of the Afghan detainee affair, joined Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day and Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay in appearing before the special joint committee.  

O'Connor told the committee that the government would not provide the information on detainees, saying the enemy could use the information for propaganda purposes, surveillance, and further planning of attacks against Canadian forces in the country.

"It would be detrimental to our military operation," O'Connor said.

But Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh demanded the government reveal its figures.

"Why is it we alone believe you have to be that secretive?" Dosanjh asked O'Connor.
 
Fellow committee member Liberal MP Denis Coderre challenged O'Connor's rationale, noting that the Pentagon has lists of the people and names of those held in Guantanamo and are not concerned by having that information out there.

"I don't buy that. This is an important issue for the country," Coderre said.

"Guantanamo Bay is in Cuba; there's no war going on there," O'Connor replied sternly. "We're talking about detainees in Afghanistan … It's quite a different matter."

Day told the committee that Corrections Canada officers in Kandahar have been informed of four potential cases of abuse involving Afghan detainees, but have not verified the prisoners' claims.

He also criticized committee members for what he said was an inappropriate line of questioning in recent months over the affair.
   
"Detainees are not simply people who have jay-walked," Day said. "These are people who are suspected terrorists.

"That has been the air of the questioning, so much so that our troops tell us they think they're being accused of doing wrong things."