Opposition MPs called for the head of the Prime Minister's chief of staff, Ian Brodie, Thursday after it was revealed an offhand remark he made to journalists preceded the leak of a confidential diplomatic discussion that rocked the U.S. presidential campaign.
“We know that Ian Brodie, the chief of staff for the Prime Minister was involved, and this was clear involvement in American politics,” said NDP Leader Jack Layton.
“So will the Prime Minister show some backbone and show Mr. Brodie the door immediately?”
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who on Tuesday told the House of Commons his chief of staff was not responsible for the leak that many believe helped undermine the campaign of U.S. Democratic candidate Barack Obama, was not as explicit Thursday.
“I'm not going to comment on rumours,” Mr. Harper said during Question Period.
“The Clerk of the Privy Council will inquire into the entire affair. We're going to investigate this entire matter and take whatever action is deemed to be necessary based on the facts that we are able to discover,” he said.
Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion demanded a clarification on Mr. Harper's earlier defence of his chief of staff.
“Was the Prime Minister misleading the House or was his chief of staff misleading him?” he asked.
In response, Mr. Harper reiterated statements he made Wednesday that the leak was “extremely unfair” to Mr. Obama and contrary to the government's interests.
“I would point out to the Leader of the Opposition that when he was throwing around wild accusations of scandal, the leader of the NDP was already on top of this issue,” Mr. Harper added.
The story that reverberated through the U.S. presidential campaign began as a terse, almost throwaway remark that Mr. Brodie made to journalists from CTV, according to people familiar with the events.
Mr. Brodie, during the media lockup for the Feb. 26 budget, stopped to chat with several journalists, and was surrounded by a group from CTV.
The conversation turned to the pledges to renegotiate the North American free-trade agreement made by the two Democratic contenders, Mr. Obama and New York Senator Hillary Clinton.
Mr. Brodie, apparently seeking to play down the potential impact on Canada, told the reporters the threat was not serious, and that someone from Ms. Clinton's campaign had even contacted Canadian diplomats to tell them not to worry because the NAFTA threats were mostly political posturing.
The Canadian Press cited an unnamed source Wednesday night as saying that several people overheard the remark.
The news agency quoted that source as saying that Mr. Brodie said that someone from Ms. Clinton's campaign called and was "telling the embassy to take it with a grain of salt."
The story was followed by CTV's Washington bureau chief, Tom Clark, who reported that the Obama campaign, not the Clinton's, had reassured Canadian diplomats.
Mr. Clark cited unnamed Canadian sources in his initial report.
The Prime Minister's communications director, Sandra Buckler, has said that Mr. Brodie "does not recall" discussing the issue.
Mr. Harper has asked the Clerk of the Privy Council, Kevin Lynch, to call in an internal security team with the help of Foreign Affairs.
Members of the opposition asserted that an internal inquiry is unlikely to look seriously at Mr. Harper's own high-level political aides and appointees, such as Mr. Brodie, or Michael Wilson, Canada's ambassador to Washington.
Mr. Layton has said it is time to call in the RCMP.
The first leak sparked stories that Mr. Obama had privately delivered a message through an aide to Canadian diplomats that the stand against NAFTA was more political posturing than a real policy plan.
The Clinton campaign seized on the stories to argue that Mr. Obama was making promises that he did not mean. The Obama campaign sputtered after this and other attacks on his experience and integrity.
Days later, the leak of the internal Canadian diplomatic note revealed that Mr. Obama's adviser, Austan Goolsbee, spoke to Mr. Rioux on Feb. 8.
In a summary of the meeting written by Canadian diplomat Joseph de Mora, Mr. Goolsbee was described as indicating that Mr. Obama's NAFTA stand "should be viewed as more about political positioning than a clear articulation of policy plans." Mr. Goolsbee denied using those terms.
Mr. Clark of CTV says he called Mr. Wilson for reaction.
The next day, the embassy and Mr. Obama's campaign denied the story. Since Mr. de Mora's memo was leaked to The Associated Press, the Canadian embassy in Washington won't respond to questions about "NAFTA-gate," as the issue has been dubbed.
With reports from Canadian Press
