Conservatives want committee meeting on security screening over Atwal furor
OTTAWA — The official Opposition is calling for an emergency committee meeting about how a man convicted of attempted murder wound up at a prime ministerial event in India.
Conservative public safety critic Pierre Paul-Hus wants the House of Commons committee on national security to review the Privy Council Office’s screening practices following Jaspal Atwal’s attendance at a reception this week.
Atwal was convicted of attempting to kill Indian cabinet minister Malkiat Singh Sidhu on Vancouver Island in 1986.
He was also charged, but not convicted, in connection with a 1985 attack on Ujjal Dosanjh, a staunch opponent of the Sikh separatist movement, who later became B.C. premier and a federal Liberal cabinet minister.