The PCs suffered a historic defeat in the 1993 federal election, winning only two seats in the House of Commons. In its aftermath, Dechert came together with a group of provincial conservatives, primarily from Ontario, to form the "Blue Committee" in 1994.[2] 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.
On September 9, 2011, it was revealed that Dechert had been engaging in "flirtatious e-mails" with a correspondent, Shi Rong, working for the People's Republic of China news agency, Xinhua. The e-mails came to light when the correspondent's husband hacked into her e-mail account and made them public. Dechert acknowledged the "flirtatious" nature of his relationship and issued an apology, but denied any wrongdoing.[12] 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 sensitive government information. Both Burton and the opposition asserted that Dechert must have known about Xinhua's espionage activities.[13][14]
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.[1]
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