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| Hon Tony Clement, President of the Treasury Board |
On June 22, Infrastructure Canada official Naomi Hirshberg emailed Huntsville officials to inform them that the cheques would be delayed six to eight weeks so that Carol Beal, an assistant deputy minister, could look into the payments. “The ADM of program operations has asked that Infrastructure Canada withhold all claims for review,” she wrote.
Huntsville Mayor Claude Doughty forwarded the email to Clement. “This is totally unacceptable,” he wrote. “I am sure you agree.”
Clement responded: “I agree. I’m working on it.”
These emails provide more light on this developing scandal similar, perhaps as big as the sponsorship scandal that helped sink the federal Liberals in Quebec. The government official, Naomi Hirshberg was doing due diligence, ensuring the money was being properly spent. I am sure the civil servants were keenly aware that this was a very political file and were doing their best within that context, ensuring government moneys were being used appropriately. These actions were not only important to the civil service but would also protect the Minister and political masters. Clement does not seem to appreciate this as you may deduce from the text above.
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| Charlie Angus, NDP MP |
Clement has yet to respond in the House of Commons under repeated questioning by the NDP on the G8 funding. Instead, he has left it too John Baird. Still Baird, Harper's most effective Minister in the House of Commons has not been unable to put this scandal to bed. Charlie Angus, NDP MP, has been persistent in his questioning.
This one is not going away. Had it progressed before the election, who knows what would have happened. Certainly Mr. Harper would have has a tougher ride to victory.
I don't know what the NDP have tomorrow, but you can be sure I will be glued to Question Period.
See also
CBC - NDP accuse Clement of using G8 cash as 'slush fund' also see this interactive map from
CBC - G8 Legacy Infrastructure Fund
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