Article content

A program to educate parliamentarians about the work being done by the Canadian military has been shut down months after it was revealed officers were using such visits to collect information on Defence Minister Peter MacKay’s political opponents.

The parliamentary outreach program allowed MPs and senators to visit military units and bases to improve their knowledge of the Canadian Forces.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Military outreach for MPs dropped after Peter MacKay’s chopper scandal Back to video

But the visits became controversial earlier this year when it was revealed air force officers gathered information on MacKay’s political opponents in an effort to help out the beleaguered defence minister.

Air force officers targeted Scott Simms, a Liberal MP who criticized the decision by MacKay’s office to order a search-and-rescue helicopter to retrieve the minister from a private fishing lodge. That flight cost taxpayers $16,000, according to reports last year.

[np-related]

In addition, officers gathered information on NDP defence critic Jack Harris, who also has criticized MacKay.