OTTAWA
(PoliticsWatch updated October 23, 2002 @ 9:15 a.m.)
Solicitor-General Lawrence MacAulay resigned from Cabinet today
after weeks of fighting allegations and maintaining he did
nothing wrong.
Prime
Minister Jean Chrétien announced during question period he had
accepted MacAulay's resignation, much to the surprise of the
opposition parties. In a Cabinet shuffle this afternoon, the
fourth this year, MP Wayne Easter of Malpeque, Prince Edward
Island became the new Solicitor-General.
After
the shuffle, Chrétien told reporters he asked Easter if he had
any brothers or sisters, a sarcastic reference to MacAulay's
downfall. Easter does not have any siblings.
Federal
ethics counsellor Howard Wilson had found a conflict of interest
in MacAulay's handling of Holland College in P.E.I., where his
brother Alex is president. The issue was brought up in 1999 when
Wilson told MacAulay any submissions for contracts be signed by
a different minister.
Last
spring the Solicitor-General lobbied the RCMP and Corrections
Canada on a police training program proposed by Holland College.
The Atlantic Canada Opportunities
Agency later put $6.5 million into the program. Wilson said he
should not have intervened in this situation.
In his
letter of resignation to the Prime Minister, MacAulay said he
disagreed with Wilson's report and does not think he violated
guidelines.
"However,
in this era of political correctness, if I were to remain in the
Cabinet, I would be seen to be fighting for my job rather than
for my honour," MacAulay said in the letter.
In the
House, Chrétien defended the minister.
"I said in my reply to
the solicitor-general that I agree with him that he has done
absolutely nothing wrong," Chrétien said during question
period. "But in the interest of the good governance of the
government he did not want to create the impression that he was
fighting for his seat."
 While
the opposition parties have demanded MacAulay's resignation for
weeks, they were unimpressed by what happened today.
"Even in resignation
they still maintain they did nothing wrong," said Canadian
Alliance leader Stephen Harper. "They continue to just not
come clean."
Tory leader Joe Clark asked
the Prime Minister to table Wilson's report in the House.
Chrétien ignored the request made during question period.
"I think there were
other rules broken here," Clark said later in a scrum.
"We don't know that other stories remain to be told. The
public has an interest
in finding out."
 Former
Defence Minister Art Eggleton, who was fired from Cabinet over a
contract to an ex-girlfriend, said he respected MacAulay's
decision. With his own contract scandal, Eggleton suggested he
was not given the same treatment by the Prime Minister or
Wilson.
"My case is I followed
the rules and there was no investigations of the facts that
indicated otherwise," he said in a scrum. "I was never
even asked by the ethics counsellor my position."
Wilson
had a brief meeting with MacAulay on Friday before sending his
report to Chrétien who was in Beirut for the Francophone
summit. As early as this morning the Prime Minister said he had
not made a decision about the minister's political fate.
MacAulay was not present for today's Cabinet meeting or question
period.
The
investigation looked into several allegations of patronage and
cronyism. It started with an $140,000 untendered contract given
to MacIsaac Younker Roche and Soloman in Prince Edward Island
where a former political advisor is a partner. Wilson's report
absolved the Solicitor-General of wrongdoing in that case,
saying Treasury Board contract guidelines were indeed followed.
In his
letter MacAulay said he is considering legal action against
those who have slandered him outside the House of Commons.
Letters were reportedly sent to opposition members and a daily
newspaper.
Read
today's related Web stories:
MacAulay
quits but PM still backs him
(Toronto Star)
'The
ethics counsellor is dead wrong'
(National Post)
MacAulay
is 4th ethics casualty
(National Post)
MacAulay
sought ethics advice on college deal
(National Post)
MacAulay
resigns but admits no fault
(Globe and Mail)
Newcomer
fits the bill (Toronto
Star)
Chrétien
should have fired MacAulay
(Toronto Star)
Chretien
fires the starting gun
(National
Post)
MacAulay
resigns, promises to clear his name
(CTV)
PM
hopefuls blast Martin as hypocrite
(Globe and Mail)
MacAulay
supporters question resignation
(CBC)
P.E.I.
farm activist has no siblings to worry about
(National
Post)
© PoliticsWatch 2002. All
rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of
PoliticsWatch content, including by framing, copying, linking or
similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written
consent of Public Interests Research and Communications Inc.
PoliticsWatch is registered trademark of PIRCINC.
|
