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Prime Minister Stephen Harper says there is “absolutely no truth” to allegations two high-ranking Conservative party operatives offered B.C. MP Chuck Cadman a million-dollar life insurance policy in exchange for his vote to bring down the Liberal government in May of 2005.

The allegations are made by Mr. Cadman's widow, Dona Cadman, who is now a Tory candidate in B.C. The alleged offer, which was summarily rejected by the dying man, is outlined in a biography of Mr. Cadman by Vancouver journalist Tom Zytaruk that is due to be released March 14.

“This story was raised with me two and a half years ago. I looked into it. There is absolutely no truth in it,” Mr. Harper told the House of Commons during a raucous session of Question Period.

“The officials who were at the meeting have been very clear about what transpired ... Chuck Cadman himself, on national television, the day of that historic vote, also indicated that the story is not true.”

There is still confusion about dates and who was allegedly involved in making the offer. Dona Cadman said the meeting occurred May 17. Neither she nor Mr. Zytaruk knew the names of the Tory operatives.

The Conservatives say there was only one meeting, May 19, and the officials involved were Tory campaign director Doug Finley and Tom Flanagan, a University of Calgary political science professor who is a close friend and former campaign chief of Mr. Harper.

In a statement released Thursday, Mr. Finley and Mr. Flanagan said they met with Mr. Cadman on the day of the vote to discuss his possible re-admission to the Conservative caucus – a fact “widely known in political circles” and on the public record, they said.

The statement does not address the insurance policy allegation, but suggests televised remarks by Mr. Cadman made later that day put the matter to rest.

“We offered ways that we – as campaign officials – could help Mr. Cadman in the Conservative nomination process, and if successful, wage a competitive campaign in a general election,” the statement said.

“Later that evening, Mr. Cadman confirmed our offer of campaign assistance to a national television audience and further confirmed that this offer was ‘the only offer on anything.' As the record shows, Mr. Cadman declined our offer to re-join the Conservative Caucus.”

Mr. Harper is quoted in the book, Like a Rock: The Chuck Cadman Story, as confirming that a visit took place, and that officials were “legitimately” representing the Conservative Party. But he said any offer to Mr. Cadman was only to defray losses he might incur in an election. A copy of the manuscript, including an introduction by former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin, has been obtained by The Globe and Mail.

Sandra Buckler, a spokeswoman for Mr. Harper, said Wednesday that her boss never directed any party official to make any kind of financial arrangement with Mr. Cadman.

Meanwhile, NDP MP Pat Martin put a motion before the Commons ethics committee Thursday calling for an investigation of the Cadman allegations.

Mr. Martin, vice-chairman of the committee, called for “a study to investigate allegations of wrongdoing pertaining to reports that representatives of the Conservative Party offered inducements and rewards to MP Chuck Cadman in order to influence his vote on the budget of May 2005.”

Committee chairman Paul Szabo said he's in favour of having MPs consider the matter as quickly as possible.

“This has the potential to be damaging to persons, and maybe wrongly. I think it's in the public interest to make sure that we keep the facts straight and in the public domain so that the allegations do not go too far wildly off the track,” Mr. Szabo told globeandmail.com.

Under the influence pedalling provisions of the Criminal Code, it is illegal for government officials and “anyone who has or pretends to have influence with the government” to be involved in the acceptance or offer of a loan, reward, advantage or benefit of any kind to influence any matter of business relating to the government.

According to the book, two Conservative officials arrived at Mr. Cadman's Ottawa office two days before the vote on the Liberal budget. It was apparent at that time that the House of Commons was evenly split on the money bill and the nod of the then-Independent MP would decide whether Mr. Martin's Liberal government would survive. “The Tories actually walked in with a list of offers written down on a piece of paper. Included in their proposal was a $1-million life insurance policy – no small carrot for a man with advanced cancer,” the book states.

Dona Cadman, who is now running for the Conservatives in the Vancouver-area riding of Surrey North, was not in the office at the time. But she says her husband was furious when he returned to their apartment. “Chuck was really insulted,” she said in a telephone interview with The Globe yesterday. “He was quite mad about it, thinking they could bribe him with that.”

Mr. Cadman died less than two months after the vote.

Ms. Cadman, who has read and approved the manuscript for the book, said she has “no idea” where the money for the life insurance was supposed to come from. “They had the form there. Chuck just had to sign.”

Liberal MP Michael Ignatieff demanded to know Thursday if Mr. Harper, in denying the offer was ever made, was suggesting Mr. Cadman's widow was a liar.

“Is he saying that the widow of Chuck Cadman is lying? Is he saying that a Conservative candidate is lying?”

The Prime Minister did not respond to the question.

Mr. Zytaruk writes that the only person in the office at the time of the visit by the officials was Mr. Cadman's legislative assistant, Dan Wallace.

When Mr. Zytaruk broached the subject with Mr. Wallace, he writes, “he recoiled,” but said: “I believe Dona Cadman as the day is long. She has no interest in fabricating anything.”

The Globe was unable to find Mr. Wallace yesterday.

Mr. Zytaruk, who writes for a Surrey newspaper, has covered stories about Mr. Cadman since the murder of his son drove him into politics.

After Mr. Cadman's death, Mr. Zytaruk heard that Mr. Harper, who was then leader of the opposition, was paying a personal visit to the Cadman residence. Mr. Zytaruk interviewed Mr. Harper in the driveway.

“Of the offer to Chuck,” he quotes Mr. Harper as saying, “it was only to replace financial considerations he might lose due to an election, OK. That's my understanding of what they were talking about.

“I don't know the details,” he said. “I can tell you that I had told the individuals - I mean, they wanted to do it - but I told them they were wasting their time. I said Chuck had made up his mind he was going to vote with the Liberals. I knew why, and I respected the decision, but they were just, they were convinced there was, there was financial issues and, there may or may not.

“They were legitimately representing the party,” Mr. Harper confirmed. “I said ‘Don't press him, I mean, you have this theory that it's, you know, financial insecurity, and you know, just, you know, if that's what you say make the case,' but I said ‘Don't press it.'”

Yesterday, Ms. Buckler of the PMO wrote in an e-mail that “On Sept. 9, 2005, the then Leader of the Opposition visited Dona Cadman at her residence. During that visit, Dona asked him about this story. Subsequently, on the same day, a local reporter/author Tom Zytaruk asked him about Dona's same story. The then Leader of the Opposition looked into the matter with party officials and could find no confirmation. And that is the last time he heard anything regarding this matter.”

with reports from Gloria Galloway and Brian Laghi