Federal parties strike deal on Afghan detainee documents

OTTAWA, Ont. – MPs have struck an eleventh-hour deal to avert a parliamentary showdown — and possible snap election — over sensitive Afghan detainee documents.

Sources said the government and opposition have agree to establish a small, all-party committee sworn to secrecy to examine sensitive Afghan detainee documents.

The committee of one MP and one alternate from each party will go through the documents with the
assistance of bureaucrats who can explain national security implications.

In the event of disagreement over the release of a document, a three-member panel of “eminent jurists” will be given the final say.

The parties now must draft a formal agreement which can be submitted to Commons Speaker Peter Milliken.

Failure to reach this compromise would have paved the way for a contempt of Parliament motion against the government.

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