Inside Politics

Orders of the Day: Get the gavel out of storage, it's meetin' time on the Hill!

by Kady O'Malley Posted: July 5, 2010 8:21 AM Last Updated: July 5, 2010 8:25 AM
That's right, committee is back in session: the Commons public safety committee, to be precise, which reassembles itself later this morning to hear from embattled CSIS director Richard Fadden. Depending on whether they're satisfied with his explanation for some of the more eyebrow-raising claims that he made during that on-camera interview with CBC anchor Peter Mansbridge, today's meeting may be just the beginning of an investigation that could eventually require senior PCO and PMO officials called forward to testify about what -- and when -- they knew about Fadden's allegations, both before and after Canada's spymaster in chief chose to go public with his concerns. On top of that, opposition members are pushing to have the same committee launch a separate inquiry into security at last month's G8/20 summits in Toronto. Note to returning Public Safety members: You may not want to book off vacation time just yet. Then again, who wouldn't want to spend their summer stuck in Ottawa? 

Meanwhile, over in the Other Place, National Finance plows onward with its scrutiny of the budget bill. On the witness list for this afternoon: Canada Post, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, and the Canadian International Mail Association. Later this afternoon, the committee will hear from the former chief executive officer of the Ontario Power Authority, the Queen's Institute for Energy and Environment, Solidarite rurale du Quebec and several witnesses to be named later.

Also scheduled to meet today: the Special Committee on Anti-terrorism, which is examining a government-backed bill that would amend the State Immunity Act to "deter terrorism," according to its official title. They'll hear from former Canadian Ambassador to Afghanistan turned Foreign Affairs deputy legal advisor David Sproule, as well as the Canadian Coalition Against Terror.

Tags: blackberry jungle, csiswatch, g8/20 aftermath, orders of the day, public safety committee, richard fadden