Liberal MP defects to Tories after serving as Harper adviser since summer
32 minutes ago
OTTAWA (CP) - Prime Minister Stephen Harper's Conservative minority government has received a boost thanks to the defection of Toronto-area Liberal MP Wajid Khan.
Khan, who has served as Harper's special adviser on the Middle East and Afghanistan since last summer, is crossing the floor to the Tory government benches, shifting the delicate balance of power in the 308-seat House of Commons.
"It has often been said and no doubt it will be said again today: politics makes strange bedfellows," Khan said at a hastily called news conference in the Commons lobby on Friday.
"But nothing about my decision to join the Conservative caucus feels strange to me."
Khan said he came to admire Harper and his government during his time as adviser.
He also said the Liberal party is shifting away from the principles of free enterprise, family values and Canada's role in the world that are most important to him.
Khan's defection brings the minority government ranks to 125 MPs, meaning the Conservatives would need only the co-operation of the 29-member NDP caucus to pass legislation. The speaker, Liberal Peter Milliken, votes only in the event of a tie, making 154 the government's magic majority number. There are 308 seats in the Commons.
New Democrat Leader Jack Layton has shown in the past he is willing and able to strike deals with Harper on key legislation, such as the Federal Accountability Act and the proposed Clean Air Act.
Harper, who repeated his willingness to "reach across party lines to achieve common objectives," said Khan first offered his services as adviser after 17 Muslim terror suspects were arrested in Toronto last June.
"He contacted me directly and offered to help in any way he could," said Harper. "As a Canadian Muslim, with a background in the Pakistani military and an abiding interest in terrorism and security, he brought a lot to the table, so I took him up on his offer.
"The more we worked together, the more both of us began to realize that politically we have an awful lot in common."
Harper said it eventually became clear Khan would be "quite at home in the Conservative party and an excellent addition to Canada's new government. Obviously, he came to the same conclusion."
Liberal Leader Stephane Dion said Thursday he would not allow Khan, a former fighter pilot in the Pakistani military and Liberal MP for Mississauga-Streetsville since 2004, to continue working for the other side. But he told CBC early Friday he had no reason to believe Khan would bolt the Liberal ranks.
Though he apparently cancelled a meeting scheduled for Friday afternoon, Khan told the news conference Dion's ultimatum, published in newspapers and broadcast on television, left him no choice but to cross the floor.
"He said the ride is over - either choose between being a special adviser or come back to the Liberal party," said Khan. "Our commitments overseas are of far greater importance to me and therefore I wasn't left any choice."
Asked his opinion of Dion's policy on Afghanistan, Khan replied: "Could you tell me a little bit more about Mr. Dion's foreign policy, because I haven't heard anything from him?"
He said the new Liberal leader, elected by delegates at a convention in Montreal last month, did not consult him about Afghanistan and did not respond to his offer to provide advice on the volatile region where 2,500 Canadian troops are involved in reconstruction and combat efforts.
Khan, 60, emigrated to Canada in 1974, becoming a successful businessman in Toronto. He is married to a medical doctor and has a son.
In the Commons, he was associate defence critic for the Liberals and chairman of the caucus committee on Bill C-36, the post-9-11 security legislation.
His defection brings the standing in the House to 125 Conservatives, 101 Liberals, 51 Bloc Quebecois, 29 NDP and two independents.
