Former Liberal cabinet minister David Dingwall was a no-show before a Commons committee on Monday, when he was expected to give an accounting of his lobbying activities.

Dingwall, who resigned in September after questionable spending practices during his tenure as head of the Royal Canadian Mint, failed to show up at the committee on government operations and estimates.

His no-show may have spared the Liberals further scandal-tinged embarrassment on the eve of an election campaign.

But his absence angered opposition members enough that the committee voted 9 to 1 to issue a summons for Dingwall to show up at 9 a.m. today -- half an hour before Prime Minister Paul Martin is expected to visit Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean to request that she dissolve Parliament and call an immediate election.

"I don't care if we have to drag him here in handcuffs in the back of a paddy wagon," said NDP MP Pat Martin, who introduced the motion to issue the summons.

Although the government was defeated last night in a vote of non-confidence in the Commons, this 38th Parliament and its committees continue to live until the Governor General formally declares dissolution.

But the committee may not be able to enforce its summons if Dingwall runs out the clock.

Opposition MPs want to ask Dingwall about a $350,000 contingency fee he sought in helping companies get money from the federal Technology Partnerships Canada fund.

Last month, Dingwall said he wrote the contingency fee clause out of a lobbying contract after he found out that the fund didn't allow such fees.

Dingwall's lawyer, Ivan Whitehall, told The Globe and Mail Monday night that he's aware of the summons, but that he didn't know where his client could be reached.

Three of four Liberals on the government operations committee voted with the three opposition parties to issue the summons. One Liberal member abstained, while the one remaining Liberal voted against issuing the summons.

But if Dingwall fails to show up this morning, it doesn't mean he's off the hook. Committee chairman Leon Benoit, a Tory, and other committee members said the next Parliament could pick up on the issue and call for Dingwall to appear before it.

Dingwall was appointed president of the Mint in 2003. He resigned in September after an audit revealed an office expense account in the six figures.

But in October, an independent audit found that Dingwall's expenses did fall within Royal Canadian Mint guidelines, backing the former crown corporation president's claim that there was nothing wrong with his spending during his tenure.