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Opposition MPs vow to continue to challenge Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier's judgment – and the government's security screening – over his relationship with a woman who once had ties to the Quebec wing of the Hells Angels.

New Democratic MP Paul Dewar said yesterday that he is less concerned about Mr. Bernier's choice of a girlfriend and more worried about his qualifications to be Canada's top diplomat.

Mr. Dewar had asked the Commons foreign affairs committee to demand that Mr. Bernier appear at committee to defend his record as minister, with the committee then voting on whether it had confidence in him.

The date of Mr. Bernier's appearance before the committee has not yet been finalized, a spokesman for government House Leader Peter Van Loan's office said. However, he told CTV.ca it will happen before the end of May.

It's not clear how much leeway MPs will have to question Mr. Bernier's relationship with Julie Couillard, his former partner who, 10 years ago, was engaged to marry a member of the notorious biker gang.

An earlier boyfriend of Ms. Couillard's was the victim of a gangland slaying.

The NDP critic said Mr. Bernier has shown no competence as Foreign Affairs Minister.

However, Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae said the relationship raised serious questions about whether Mr. Bernier had compromised national security.

He said that, rather than rejecting the issue out of hand, Prime Minister Stephen Harper could simply reassure Canadians that the government had taken the matter seriously and found no security breach.

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day dismissed opposition complaints yesterday, saying the government has no business doing security checks on a cabinet ministers' families or partners.

While cabinet ministers and even members of Parliament must file conflict-of-interest reports that include the financial holdings of their spouses, Mr. Day said there is no reason to perform security checks on family members or partners.

“To go into the private lives of the spouses, the partners of all members of Parliament, I mean, I think that's a little bit excessive,” he told CTV's Question Period.

“As members of Parliament and as ministers, we have to declare all of our various interests and involvements, and rightly so. But if you started to spread that to spouses, to partners, and then, of course, you'd have to include children – I mean this thing would get out of hand,” Mr. Day said.