|
From the National Post
The Liberal opposition suggested Wednesday that Canada's spy agency met with the Prime Minister's Office in early May to discuss the "conduct" of former Foreign Affairs minister Maxime Bernier.
The Conservatives dismissed the allegation as "wild" as the scandal of Canada's fallen minister intensified with Mr. Bernier's first public apology and a sensational Italian newspaper spread that greeted Canada's globe-trotting prime minister.
Liberal MP Ujjal Dosanjh, a former British Columbia premier and attorney general, told the House of Commons that he believed the meeting with the Canadian Security Intelligence Service took place between May 1 and 8, predating the current scandal with Julie Couillard that led to Mr. Bernier's dismissal from cabinet on Monday.
Mr. Dosanjh said he was told of the meeting by a "credible source," whose identity he and several Liberals refused to divulge.
When Mr. Dosanjh repeatedly asked Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day to confirm the meeting "to discuss the conduct" on the Foreign Affairs minister, Mr. Day brushed off the questions, saying he didn't discuss CSIS meetings with the prime minister in public.
"He's playing a silly game," Mr. Day replied.
But the Liberals stood by the allegation, saying that if the meeting did in fact take place, it showed that Prime Minister Stephen Harper exercised bad judgment in dismissing weeks of questions regarding possible threats to national security because of Mr. Bernier's relationship with Ms. Couillard, who has been linked to Quebec biker gangs.
CSIS spokeswoman Manon Berube declined to answer questions about the Liberal allegation, telling Canwest News Service: "Call the minister's office. The call is being referred to them."
Melisa Leclerc, Mr. Day's spokeswoman, said in an e-mailed response: "There was no such meeting. The Opposition is just making wild allegations."
Outside the Commons, Mr. Dosanjh insisted that he had a credible source about the meeting.
"The whole judgment of the prime minister, his competence, his character and his judgment and the way he's dealt with this issue, all three elements have been called into question," he said.
When he was pressed to reveal his source, Mr. Dosanjh said: "Look, we have sources. We have been led to believe that there was a meeting between CSIS and the Prime Minister's Office to discuss the matters involving Mr. Bernier."
Ms. Couillard has already told a Quebec television station that she believes someone bugged the box spring of her bed.
Mr. Bernier was forced to resign for leaving classified documents in Ms. Couillard's Montreal apartment.
Mr. Bernier issued his first public mea culpa Wednesday since Monday's events, saying he would return to his full-time duties as the MP for the Quebec City area riding of Beauce in the next few days.
"With humility, I take full and sole responsibility for my actions. I also express regret over the negative impact caused by recent events on Ms. Couillard's private life. Furthermore, I refuse to discuss private affairs in a public forum," Mr. Bernier said in a statement.
The Liberals intensified their calls for an RCMP investigation into the Bernier matter and any other possible security breaches.
"The forced resignation of the Foreign Affairs minister has become an international black eye. It was covered by 370 news organizations in 28 countries around the world. The prime minister's refusal to take matters of security seriously has become an international embarrassment," said Liberal leader Stephane Dion.
One of those newspapers was Rome's La Stampa, which featured a front-page photo of Ms. Couillard - "anyone who loves her gets in trouble" was how the paper described her -- and several more pictures of her inside as it introduced the "sexy Canadian scandal" to Italian readers just in time for Harper's arrival there on the third stop of his four-country Western European whirlwind tour.
With Mr. Harper travelling, government House leader Peter Van Loan said Foreign Affairs was still investigating the matter and "they can draw on whatever resources they want."
The NDP also backed the call for an RCMP investigation.
"Have national secrets been forgotten at Starbucks or the gym?" asked NDP Leader Jack Layton.
. . . . . . .
This thing is exploding, and it's about time. I bet we see an election very soon, when the Conservatives are at their weakest.. There is going to be a Cabinet re-shuffle in the coming days, to try and grab the news cycle in a positive way, but I bet Dion finally ponies up and actually goes to the polls.
Now is the time to make a difference, to push the party that has taken this country away from its values so much in the last few years out of power, or at least deal them another minority, to show there is no way that the Conservatives will get free reign over this country.
|
