Ethics commissioner investigates PM; Harper denounces him as rabid liberal

[Grimmlok]

How Tom DeLay of Stephen Harper.. Oh Noes!! i'm under teh investigashun, quick i better cast the ethics commissioner as a left wing nutjob who's after me for spite, like Bush and his cronies do!

Neocons.. always the same.

Anger follows launch of preliminary probe of Harper, Emerson over former Liberal's move to Conservatives
Mar. 4, 2006. 03:01 AM
LES WHITTINGTON AND ANDREW MILLS
OTTAWA BUREAU


OTTAWA—Prime Minister Stephen Harper is attacking the legitimacy of the federal ethics watchdog after he announced an investigation of Harper's conduct recruiting David Emerson to the Conservative cabinet.

In a letter made public yesterday, Bernard Shapiro said he has decided to embark on a preliminary investigation into whether Harper complied with the conflict-of-interest code for MPs when he brought Emerson, who had just been re-elected as a Liberal, into the Tory fold.

Shapiro's decision prompted new criticism that Harper is ignoring his vow to practise more ethical, accountable politics.

"Mr. Ethics himself is now under investigation by the ethics commissioner," crowed Liberal MP Wayne Easter, one of three opposition MPs who asked Shapiro to look into the events surrounding Emerson's unexpected emergence as Conservative trade minister.

But in a surprising move, Harper's office responded by trying to discredit the ethics commissioner, who was named to his post by former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin.

"This guy's got a real pattern of attacking Conservative MPs and not Liberal MPs," said Sandra Buckler, Harper's director of communications.

She suggested the latest investigation has persuaded Harper he has to get rid of Shapiro.

"This Liberal appointee's actions have strengthened the Prime Minister's resolve to create a truly non-partisan Ethics Commissioner, who is accountable to Parliament," she wrote in an email.

Buckler also argued that, since the Emerson affair happened when Parliament wasn't in session, Shapiro has no right to investigate.

In his letter to House of Commons Speaker Peter Milliken, Shapiro said he will also investigate the actions of Emerson.

"Although the subject of this inquiry is the Prime Minister, given that the actions of Messrs. Harper and Emerson in this incident were intertwined, questions will no doubt be raised during the course of the preliminary inquiry on the conduct of Mr. Emerson as well."

The Commons conflict-of-interest code bars any MP from trying to induce another MP to take a course of action to further his or her private interests.

Emerson, the former Liberal industry minister, set off an angry reaction among Liberal supporters in his Vancouver-Kingsway riding when he was sworn in as a Conservative cabinet minister on Feb. 6.

Explaining that sequence of events, Harper told reporters on that day that he felt Emerson had served the Liberals well in cabinet.

"Obviously that service (was) over," Harper continued, "so I decided to call him and suggest that I thought his talents would be best used on the government benches rather than in opposition ... I'm pleased that he accepted that offer."

Bryon Wilfert (Richmond Hill), another Liberal who wrote to Shapiro, said that if the commissioner finds that the Prime Minister or Emerson breached the MPs' code, "I think the steps would have to be resignation."

New Democrat MP Peter Julian, who also requested an investigation by Shapiro, said the whole affair is a sign that, when it comes to ethical behaviour, Harper's Conservatives are no different from Martin's team.

"This is a wake-up call on the first few weeks of his government and the fact that he has governed, in my mind, exactly the way the Liberals governed."

Responding yesterday, Buckler, Harper's spokesperson, said Shapiro lacks moral authority.

"The Prime Minister is loath to co-operate with an individual whose decision-making ability has been questioned and who has been found in contempt of the House," she said.

It was a reference to a House committee's decision last year to find Shapiro in contempt of the Commons over the commissioner's handling of a probe of allegations against Conservative MP Deepak Obhrai.

Asserting that Shapiro has no right to conduct investigations of MPs' conduct when Parliament has been dissolved for an election, Buckler said, "This is the excuse Mr. Shapiro used to avoid an investigation into the land flip" in which former Liberal House leader Tony Valeri was involved. Liberals have said nothing was wrong with Valeri's purchase and sale of his neighbour's house last spring and Martin said the deal was vetted by Shapiro.

If Shapiro determines that either Harper or Emerson has violated the code, he may recommend appropriate sanctions.

Harper, in one of his first acts in office, revised the ethics code for MPs, so "reports and findings of the Ethics Commissioner are final and may not be overturned by the Prime Minister."

Emerson was not available for an interview yesterday