CHEF DU NOUVEAU PARTI DEMOCRATIQUE DU CANADA LEADER OF THE NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF CANADA CHAMBRE DES CDMMUNES HOUSE OF COMMONS CANADA THOMAS MULCAIR DEPUTE, MP, OUTREMONT May 02, 2017 Dear Commissioner Dawson, Over the past several days, the credibility of the Minister of National Defence has been widely questioned following revelations that he falsely represented his role during the war in Afghanistan. In light of the new information that has come to light, I am urgently requesting that you review your decision and open an examination into whether the Minister of "National Defence violated the Conflict of Interest Act when he refused an inquiry into the Afghan detainee scandal in response. to House of Commons petition which called on the government to establish a public inquiry into Canada?s policies and practices with respectto detainees in Afghanistan. As has been brought to your attention on more than one occasion, the Minister would be a key 1 of 2 witness at such an inquiry, given his former intelligence?liaison role on the battlefield. It is now public knowledge that the Minister informed you he was merely a "reservist" who was responsible for capacity building with local police forces. In your letter of response to Professor Craig Scott, dated February 27, 2017, you write: ?At no time was he involved in the transfer of Afghan detainees, nor did he have any knowledge relating to the matter.? On April 18, however, he repeated for at least the second time that he was ?the architect? of Operation MEDUSA, one of Canada?s largest military operations since the Korean War. In addition, Professor Craig Scott provided to you further information in a letter dated April 14, 2017. General David Fraser, who was commander of Canada?s Coalition Task Force in Kandahar and the Minister?s superior, stated in a letter dated September 16, 2006 the following: Maj Sajjan was specially selected for that demanding and challenging task of acting as the Liaison Officer of the Afghan National Police on behalf of the Combined Task Force (CTF) Aegis HQ because of the civilian ski/[set he has brought to the table as an undercover narcotics officer. His job further changed into being a special intelligence officer working direct to Commander CTF Aegis because of his ability to understand and exploit criminal networks. He consistently provided the most timely and accurate intelligence available, and he personally fused broad sources of information into an extremely coherent picture upon which most of the formations major operations were based. OTTAWA OUTREMDNT CI-IAMBRE DES COMMUNES HOUSE OF COMMONS OTTAWA (ONTARIO) KIA 0A6 302-154, LAURIER AVE. AVENUE LAURIER GUEST MONTREAL (QUEBEC) H2T 2N7 613 995-7224 613 995-4565 514 7362727 I 514 736?2726 thomas.muicalr@parl.gc.ca This information casts further doubt on the Minister?s truthfulness in the account of his role that he provided to you. It is simply not plausible for a military intelligence liaison officer who had such a role on the battlefield to have had no access whatsoever to information relating to the capture and transfer of Afghan detainees. These revelations seriously call into question the Minister?s honesty and forthrightness with respect to his role, and what information he had access to throughout his time in Afghanistan. The blatant discrepancies in his statements warrant immediate scrutiny from your office. I thereby request that you review your decision and open an examination under the Conflict of Interest Act. This is a matter of fundamental human rights, of public accountability, and transparency. This is a clear conflict between the Minister?s responsibilities and his personal interests regarding events before his appointment. Thank you for your thoughtful consideration of this matter. Sincerely, 474mm 20f2