Harper defends integrity of latest ousted spy watchdog Chuck Strahl

OTTAWA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper has issued a rousing defence of Chuck Strahl, who stepped down as chairman of the federal spy watchdog over allegations of conflict of interest.

Harper called the former Conservative cabinet minister one of the most honourable people he’d ever worked with and said it is a shame Strahl quit.

Strahl, who left politics before the 2011 election, announced his resignation from the Security Intelligence Review Committee late last week, just days before Parliament returned from the six-week Christmas break.

He had been under increasing pressure since registering last month to lobby on behalf of Northern Gateway Pipelines.

The committee Strahl chaired is the civilian overseer for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service — the spy agency which was revealed last year to be spying on environmental and other activists opposed to new pipeline construction, including the proposed Northern Gateway.

NDP deputy leader Nathan Cullen is asking why the Conservative government did not recognize what he called an obvious conflict of interest.