Bob Dechert

Politics Dechert became involved in politics in his teen years, putting up signs for Progressive Conservative Party of Canada (PC) candidate Duncan Beattie in the 1972 federal election, The group desired a more conservative PC Party and wanted to work together with the Reform Party of Canada, which won 52 seats in that election. The Blue Committee was instrumental in the creation of the United Alternative movement, the Canadian Alliance and ultimately, the merger of the Alliance and the PCs to form the modern Conservative Party of Canada.

Dechert ran in the 2004 federal election in the riding of Mississauga—Erindale, losing to Carolyn Parrish. He ran in the same riding in the 2006 federal election, losing to Omar Alghabra. He defeated Alghabra in the 2008 federal election to become the Member of Parliament for that riding, and was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Justice on March 5, 2010. and was named Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs John Baird. Critics, including Charles Burton, a former Canadian diplomat to Beijing, raised concerns as to whether Shi Rong was a Chinese spy trying to gain access to sensitive government information. Both Burton and the opposition asserted that Dechert must have known about Xinhua's espionage activities.

Despite the controversy, Dechert stayed on as Parliamentary Secretary to the Foreign Affairs Minister, then returned to his previous role as Parliamentary Secretary to the Justice Minister in September 2013. He then sought to represent the Ontario PCs in the riding of Mississauga—Erin Mills in the 2018 provincial election, but withdrew from the nomination process in January 2017, citing concerns over the sale of new party memberships.