Bloc Quebecois MP among new faces on national security committee

OTTAWA — The new crop of parliamentarians overseeing the security-and-intelligence community includes the first Bloc Quebecois MP to sit on the committee.

The Prime Minister’s Office says Bloc MP Christine Normandin, Conservative MPs Ted Falk and Glen Motz, New Democrat MP Don Davies, Liberal MP Jennifer O’Connell and Sen. Dennis Dawson will join several returning members.

Appointed to serve another term are Liberal MP David McGuinty, who will again be chairman, Sen. Vern White, Sen. Frances Lankin and Liberal MP Brenda Shanahan.

The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians, established in 2017, has the authority to review sensitive activities across the federal government.

It submits classified reports to the prime minister, which are later tabled in Parliament in edited form.

The committee is dissolved at the end of each session of Parliament and reconstituted with new members after a fresh session begins.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 5, 2020.

The Canadian Press