Opposition members demanded Monday to know details of the information that prompted Prime Minister Stephen Harper to fire Helena Guergis and kick her out of caucus.
“There are quote-unquote serious allegations around the conduct of this minister but we still don’t know what they are,” Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff said. “When will the government tell Canadians the truth?”
Ms. Guergis, the former minister of state for the status of women, was not in the House of Commons on Monday. Had she turned up, she would have found herself banished to a corner of the House that is furthest from Mr. Harper. Denis Lebel, minister of state for Quebec economic devlopment, now has her old spot directly behind the Prime Minister – a seat that earns its occupant much television exposure.
Mr. Harper was also absent for the daily Question Period, having flown to Washington in the morning to attend a nuclear summit.
That meant Transport Minister John Baird had to answer questions about the scandal that has dominated chatter in Ottawa since Friday when Ms. Guergis was relieved of both her cabinet post and her right to sit on the Conservative benches. Mr. Harper said at that time he had turned the allegations over to the Mounties as well as the parliamentary Ethics Commissioner but did not elaborate about what it was he had been told.
Mr. Baird was unflappable in his response. The RCMP and the Ethics Commissioner would be taking a look at the matter, he said.
“How long will the government hide behind the Ethics Commissioner and the Mounties?” demanded Mr. Ignatieff. “This sordid tale has been going of for six weeks.”
The tale to which the Liberal Leader referred began when Ms. Guergis had a meltdown in the Charlottetown airport after arriving late for a plane. It was also revealed that members of her staff had written to local newspapers praising their boss without mentioning that they were in her employ.
Then, last Thursday, it was alleged in a Toronto Star report that Ms. Guergis’s husband, former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer, had told business associates of questionable character that he had access to government funds. That boast was vehemently denied by the Prime Minister and other members of his government.
Mr. Baird told the Commons that the allegations necessitating a call to the police were made by a “third party” who is not a federal politician or a government employee. He would shine no further light on what Ms. Guergis may have done to warrant removal from her post. “Our government acted quickly and appropriately,” he said.
But Anita Neville, a Liberal MP from Winnipeg, tried to implicate Mr. Baird himself in Mr. Jaffer’s dealings. The Minister of Transport, she said, is responsible for administering the $1-billion green infrastructure fund and he met with Mr. Jaffer on Sept. 3, 2009. “What did they discuss and were those discussions reported to the Commissioner of Lobbying, as required by law?”
Mr. Baird replied that Mr. Jaffer did not make any inquiries with respect to government funds during that meeting.
Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe and NDP Leader Jack Layton also queried the government about the reasons for Mr. Guergis’s expulsion from cabinet and the decision to call in the Mounties.
Mr. Duceppe pointed out that the rumours swirling in the absence of fact may be worse than what is actually alleged to have occurred. And Mr. Layton said the Prime Minister is ultimately responsible for his cabinet. “He has to be transparent. So why was this matter referred to the RCMP. Give us an answer today.”
The Conservatives would not be moved off message. But the issue is not likely to fade and similar questions will undoubtedly dog the government until the details of the allegations are made public.
(Photo: Fred Chartrand/The Canadian Press)
