In her defense, Lisa Raitt is no more incompetent a Natural Resources minister than Gary Lunn, or more careless an MP than Maxime Bernier; though clearly they are not ringing endorsements. In further proof that the Conservatives have no idea what they're doing, Raitt left behind a binder filled with sensitive documents after a CTV interview.
OK, she didn't leave them with a biker boyfriend, just the media! (Yikes) But we are talking about nuclear energy here ... stuff that goes boom in the night. How can we trust someone like Lisa Raitt to protect us when she can't even keep track of her own stuff?
Documents show government will have to spend millions more on isotopes-producing reactor than previously revealed
Jun 03, 2009
Joanna Smith
Jun 03, 2009
Joanna Smith
Toronto Star
Ottawa Bureau
OTTAWA–Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt is shirking her ministerial duties by failing to resign after a binder full of sensitive documents was inadvertently left at an Ottawa television station, opposition MPs charge.
Raitt rose to her own defence in the Commons this afternoon, saying she offered her resignation to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, which was not accepted.
However, Raitt says she did accept the resignation of her own press secretary whom she said was responsible for the documents related to Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. (Sorry Lisa, but a staffer IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THOSE DOCUMENTS. YOU ARE!!!)
But that prompted outrage from opposition MPs, who accused the government of making the 26-year-old aide a scapegoat while Raitt, who represents the GTA riding of Halton, ducked her responsibility.
"When she blames her employee, it's despicable. What will the government do about this minister who will not assume responsibility," Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff said.
Raitt called it a "serious matter.
"Clear procedures were not followed in this case. Corrective action has been taken," Raitt said.
"I offered to resign if the Prime Minister felt it necessary. He did not accept it. The person responsible for handling the documents offered their resignation. I did accept," she said.
That won her a standing ovation from the Conservative bench but howls of derision from the opposition.
Ignatieff mocked the government response, questioning whether other problems in the department such as the shutdown of the Chalk River nuclear reactor and resulting isotope shortage would also be blamed on the young aide.
"How are we supposed to believe such a fiction? When will this minister take her responsibility seriously?" he said.
But facing question after question, Raitt did not stray from her scripted lines.
CTV News reported documents concerning Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. were left behind at its Ottawa bureau last week.
The network said it waited six days without hearing from her office before breaking the news last night.
"Confidential documents were not handled properly as was clearly the case in this incident; however, it is also clear that this was not as a result of personal actions by the minister, rather proper procedures not being followed on the part of minister's staff," PMO communications director Kory Teneycke said on CBC Newsworld this afternoon.
A government official confirmed the aide was Jasmine MacDonnell, press secretary to Raitt.
MacDonnell also worked as press secretary to former natural resources minister Gary Lunn.
MacDonnell did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
This is not the first time a Conservative cabinet minister has faced trouble over leaving sensitive documents behind.
Conservative MP Maxime Bernier (Beauce) resigned as foreign affairs minister in May 2008 after a former girlfriend with ties to Quebec biker gangs revealed he had forgotten some documents at her apartment.
Teneycke dismissed a suggestion that Harper was being more lenient with Raitt than he had been with Bernier.
"There is a clear difference between personal conduct of handling of documents versus those of others in the department or in the minister's office," Teneycke told CBC. (Huh? What is the difference and why was this responsibility left to a staffer?)
"It's taken very seriously by the government in every instance, but unlike a past experience our government had with this, this is not as a result of the minister's personal actions and so we do draw a distinction between personal handling of documents and that problem of procedures not being followed."
Bernier said today the decision to resign belongs to Raitt.
"I think she has good judgement. She must use her judgment like I did in my circumstance," he said. "I did what I had to do at my time. I assumed my own responsibility. She's going to do what she thinks is good for the country and for her."
CTV said the documents - some clearly marked "secret" - detailed government plans to spend more money on the troubled National Research Universal (NRU) reactor at Chalk River, Ont. than previously announced.
Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. expects the NRU to be out of service for at least three months after discovering a heavy-water leak May 15.
The shutdown is blamed for a looming shortage of medical isotopes crucial to diagnostic tests.
CTV reports that one document titled "Background for discussion with chair of Atomic Energy Canada" lists $72 million in funding for AECL to "maintain the option of isotope production", which was not mentioned in the 2009 budget tabled in January.
The documents also reportedly include a handwritten note listing total funding for AECL at $1.7 billion since 2006 and a memo describing the spending as "cleaning up a Liberal mess".
A federal government employee dropped by the station to pick up the documents today, CTV reports.
Liberal environment critic David McGuinty said Raitt should lose her cabinet post even if it turns out to be someone on her staff who is at fault.
"Ministerial responsibility is ministerial responsibility," McGuinty told reporters as he left the Liberal caucus meeting. "The test has been laid down by the prime minister. He says this is a grave offence. . . just a year ago. He has to decide now whether he wants to be consistent with his cabinet and the Canadian people."
New Democrat natural resources critic Nathan Cullen said a shutdown at Chalk River was the wrong time for this kind of thing to happen.
"It's an incredibly sensitive time, with the whole nuclear file in a mess," Cullen said in an interview.
Cullen said he was surprised by the $72-million figure because he had asked for that information before and had been told it was unavailable.
"The amount of money is just staggering," he said.
In the wake of Bernier's lost papers, an internal government investigation urged tighter controls over sensitive documents.
The probe by the foreign affairs department urged "control measures" to account for "all copies" of briefing books after finding that government policies were not followed.
"Each copy should be numbered, and a record maintained of the official to whom it was issued, against a signed receipt," the report said.
In Bernier's case, he carried background documents related to a NATO summit in the spring of 2008 to the conference in an unlocked briefcase and then left the papers at his girlfriend's house when he returned.
A department investigation later concluded that Bernier failed to follow guidelines for proper storage and transportation of classified information.
And it urged better training for staff in the office of the foreign affairs minister on how to safeguard sensitive information.
"It appears that security briefings to the Ministers' staff should emphasize the need to protect all classified-protected information. They should be made aware of the need to use security equipment such as locked containers to ensure its integrity while in transit," the report said.
CTV Inc. spokesperson Alexis Hood said the network would not comment on the story.
"
Our reporting speaks for itself," she said.
Minister avoids the axe while aide takes the fall for misplaced sensitive documents
Jun 04, 2009
Joanna Smith
Jun 04, 2009
Joanna Smith
Toronto Star
Ottawa Bureau
OTTAWA–Jasmine MacDonnell stood outside a popular steak house a couple of blocks from Parliament Hill, having just learned she had made a huge error.
Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt, or one of her aides, had forgotten a binder full of sensitive government documents concerning Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. and the troubled Chalk River reactor at the CTV Ottawa bureau last week.
The network waited until Tuesday night, six days later, to break the story and the 26-year-old MacDonnell's phone started ringing about 15 minutes after it aired.
Those who saw her said she looked quite upset as she stood outside Hy's Steakhouse & Cocktail Bar, where she had been dining with Raitt and Mark Cameron, a senior adviser in the Prime Minister's Office.
MacDonnell was Raitt's press secretary. She was the aide who left those documents behind. She paid for it with her job. Her boss did not.
"This is a serious matter," Raitt said in the House of Commons yesterday, where opposition MPs called for her head. "Clear procedures were not followed in this case. Corrective action has been taken.
"I offered to resign if the Prime Minister felt it necessary and he did not accept it," she continued. "The person responsible for handling the documents offered a resignation, and I did accept it."
MacDonnell could not be reached for comment yesterday.
"I don't like people blaming 26-year-olds," Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said.
This is not the first time a Conservative cabinet minister has left sensitive documents lying around, and opposition critics were quick to point out how differently Prime Minister Stephen Harper dealt with the crisis this time around.
Conservative MP Maxime Bernier (Beauce) stepped down as foreign affairs minister in May 2008 when he learned his ex-girlfriend, Julie Couillard, who had already got him into trouble because of her ties to Quebec biker gangs, was about to reveal on television that he had left briefing notes at her apartment.
"This obviously is a warning to all ministers," Harper told reporters after announcing he had accepted the resignation, denying it had anything to do with Bernier's ties to Couillard.
A guide for ministers and ministers of state prepared last year says the prime minister holds cabinet members "personally accountable for the security of their staff and offices."
Opposition critics yesterday attacked Harper for sparing rising-star Raitt – and letting a junior staffer take the fall instead – despite the fact Raitt was involved in a similar mistake as Bernier.
"Ministers are always responsible for the security of classified documents," said Geoff Regan (Halifax West), Liberal critic for natural resources. "Who said that? None other than Prime Minister Stephen Harper. It's clear that the Prime Minister must follow his own rules here and hasn't done so."
New Democrat MP Thomas Mulcair (Outremont) said he could not find any "objective reasons" Harper should be more lenient with Raitt than he was with Bernier.
"Word for word in this corridor one year ago today he said that Maxime Bernier had to resign because he is personally responsible for those documents, no matter who left them, no matter what happened," Mulcair said.
In Quebec City, Harper said the difference was he did not believe the breach was the result of the minister's "personal action.''
Raitt, Harper said, "was undertaking employment activity, ministerial activity in the company of her staff who were responsible for these documents and certainly for accounting for these documents later.
"I think she had a reasonable expectation that that would be done."
After Bernier lost his papers, an internal investigation at the foreign affairs department urged tighter controls over sensitive documents.
"Each copy should be numbered, and a record maintained of the official to whom it was issued, against a signed receipt," the report said.
CTV said the documents – some clearly marked "secret" – detailed government plans to spend more money on the troubled National Research Universal reactor at Chalk River, Ont., than previously announced.
AECL expects the reactor to be out of service for at least three months after a heavy-water leak was discovered May 15. The shutdown is blamed for a looming shortage of medical isotopes crucial to diagnostic tests.
CTV reports that one document titled "Background for discussion with chair of Atomic Energy Canada" lists $72 million in funding for AECL to "maintain the option of isotope production," which was not mentioned in the 2009 budget tabled in January that included $351 million for AECL.
Other ministerial communications staffers on Parliament Hill – including one who described MacDonnell as "competent" with a "very sunny disposition" – said she left quietly yesterday.
They were not given any reminders about keeping track of sensitive papers at their morning meeting.
"We all know that's part of the job," one press secretary said.
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