MPs summon 31 Tories to testify about 'in-and-out' scheme

By: Tim Naumetz, THE CANADIAN PRESS OTTAWA - A Commons committee is serving an extraordinary 31 summonses to unwilling witnesses it wants to testify at a probe into the Conservative "in-and-out" advertising scheme. A dozen top Tory officials are among those being summoned to ethics committee hearings that begin next week, including two top aides to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, according to a list obtained by The Canadian Press. The Liberal chair of the ethics committee said he signed the summonses after House officials were unable to reach potential witnesses from the Conservative party or were told the witnesses did not want to attend voluntarily. Mississauga South MP Paul Szabo said the "word was out" that Conservative operatives would not accept invitations to appear at the probe into $1.3 million worth of Tory radio and... [read full story]