Text of the Afghan detainee document deal

An agreement in principle has been reached by all parties:

— Creation of an ad hoc committee of parliamentarians composed of one Member of Parliament and an alternate from each political party.

— Each member of the ad hoc committee will be required to take an oath of confidentiality, sign a confidentiality undertaking and will be required to obtain the appropriate security clearances.

— Access to documents will take place in a secure location.

— Appropriate security procedures will apply.

— Committee members will have access to documents in both redacted and unredacted form.

— Committee members will have access to government officials from appropriate departments to provide briefings and contextual information and reasons for protecting information.

— With respect to every unredacted document examined by the Committee, the Committee will determine whether the information in that document is relevant to matters of importance to Members of Parliament, particularly as it relates to the ongoing study on the transfer of Afghan detainees currently under way at the House of Commons Special Committee on the Canadian Mission in Afghanistan, and whether the use of such information is necessary for the purpose of holding the government to account. The decisions of the Committee related to the relevance shall be final and unreviewable.

— Where the Committee determines that such information is both relevant and necessary, or upon the request of any member of the Committee, it will refer the document to a Panel of Arbiters who will determine how that relevant and necessary information will be made available to Members of Parliament and the public without compromising national security - either by redaction or the writing of summaries or such techniques as the Panel find appropriate, hearing in mind the basic objectives of maximizing disclosure and transparency. The Panel of Arbiters should regularly consult with the members of the Committees to better understand what information the MPs believe to be relevant and the reason why. The decisions of the Panel of Arbiters with respect to disclosure shall be final and unreviewable.

— The Panel of Arbiters will be composed of 3 eminent jurists. Composition of the panel must be agreed upon by the government and the opposition.

All parties agree that the details of this proposal will be further outlined in a Memorandum of Understanding signed by all party leaders