OTTAWA, May 21, 2005
NDP Leader Jack Layton yesterday
joined calls for the RCMP to investigate a taped conversation
in which it is alleged that the Prime Minister's chief
of staff suggested to an MP that the government would
be more free to discuss a possible Senate appointment
only after he and his wife, also an MP, abstained
on Thursday night's confidence vote.
Mr. Layton backed Bloc Québécois Leader
Gilles Duceppe, who on Thursday wrote the RCMP asking
them to investigate the matter.
"Naturally we have concerns about any conversation
that suggests or even begins to discuss even the remotest
of possibilities explicit or otherwise that there
would be positions available or not available in exchange
for votes. That is the kind of thing that causes real
consternation amongst Canadians," Mr. Layton
said.
"Ultimately the officials responsible for the
enforcement of the laws of this country will have
to take a look at any situation that has been brought
to their attention to see if laws have been violated."
Mr. Layton said.
Conservative MP Gurmant Grewal surreptitiously taped
his talk over switching sides Wednesday with Tim Murphy,
Paul Martin's chief of staff, and released an eight-minute
segment to the media that night, saying he had engaged
in negotiations with the Liberals to prove they were
trying to lure defectors with deals.
In the conversation, Mr. Murphy tells Mr. Grewal
it is a bad idea to "have any kind of commitment
that involves an explicit trade."
Mr. Murphy later suggests that if Mr. Grewal and
his wife, Nina Grewal, who is also a British Columbia
MP, abstain from confidence votes that could defeat
the government, then afterward they could discuss
whether there might be a Senate appointment.
"In advance of that, explicit discussions about
Senate, not Senate, I don't think are very helpful,
and I don't think frankly can be had, in advance of
an abstention tomorrow," Mr. Murphy tells Mr.
Grewal on the tape.
"And then we'll have much more detailed and
finely hued discussions after that with some freedom."
Mr. Murphy did not return a telephone call yesterday,
but the Prime Minister's press secretary, Melanie
Gruer, gave this prepared reply:
"Mr. Murphy will be doing no media interviews
on the topic of Mr. Grewal. He issued a statement
earlier this week making clear that he made no offer
of any kind to Mr. Grewal.
"Mr. Murphy has retained legal counsel and will
be pursuing a libel action against Andrew Coyne of
the National Post, and is also considering a potential
claim against Gilles Duceppe."
The Conservatives, who initially said they would
release the full tape of the half-hour conversation,
now refuse to do so. They have also refused to release
another recording of Mr. Grewal and Health Minister
Ujjal Dosanjh, which they say was mostly in Punjabi.
A spokesman for Mr. Dosanjh, Ken Polk, said that
in the conversation, Mr. Grewal asked for a cabinet
post for himself and a Senate seat for his wife, but
Mr. Dosanjh told him that was impossible. Mr. Dosanjh
did ask whether he would cross the floor without the
appointment, Mr. Polk said.
The Conservatives offered no reason for refusing
to release the tapes. "We think it's just plain
fine the way it is," said Geoff Norquay, Conservative
Leader Stephen Harper's communications director.
That brought a rebuke from Mr. Layton.
"Having started the process by releasing excerpts,
I think it's incumbent upon them to provide of the
taped information that they have," he said.
A spokesman for the RCMP said Mr. Duceppe's letter
"will be reviewed and appropriate action will
be taken." (Sourc Globe and Mail)
