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Subject: [ISN] Bernier quits over security breach
From: InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews ! org>
Date: 2008-05-28 7:13:46
Message-ID: Pine.LNX.4.61.0805280213350.31087 () conundrum ! infosecnews ! org
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http://thechronicleherald.ca/Canada/1058362.html
By Alexander Panetta
The Canadian Press
May 27, 2008
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Stephen Harper has accepted the resignation of
his embattled foreign affairs minister over an apparent security breach
involving cabinet documents.
Harper told an extraordinary news conference on Parliament Hill on
Monday evening that Maxime Bernier's controversial relationship with a
woman linked to the Hells Angels was not a factor in the decision.
But the resignation came as Julie Couillard was about to go to air on
the French-language television station TVA to say that her former lover
was careless with classified documents.
"This is about one thing and that is a failure to uphold expected
standards on government documents," Harper said in the Commons foyer.
"It is a very serious mistake — regardless of who the minister is,
regardless of personal life — to leave classified documents in an
unsecured location."
A source told The Canadian Press that Bernier left an extremely
sensitive classified document at Couillard's apartment, and her lawyer
notified the Foreign Affairs Department about the document on the
weekend.
Nonetheless, just hours before the axe fell on Bernier, the prime
minister had dismissed the whole affair.
"I have no intention to comment on a minister's former girlfriend," the
prime minister said to wrap up a news conference earlier Monday with
visiting Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko. "I don't take this
subject seriously."
He's taking it seriously now.
The prime minister announced that David Emerson, the international trade
minister, will take over as interim foreign affairs minister. Harper
left late Monday night on a European diplomatic trip.
Opposition MPs were baying for further details that could prove
extremely embarrassing for the Conservative government.
Liberal MP Ralph Goodale said Harper has been "very dismissive" of the
Bernier-Couillard affair for weeks.
"That raises some questions about his judgment," Goodale said of the
prime minister.
Bernier has been under fire for a series of gaffes in his role as
Canada's top diplomat, and the revelation that his former girlfriend of
the past year had once been romantically linked to several men with
links to the Hells Angels had security experts — and political opponents
— asking whether she had undergone a security check.
The question remains unanswered.
NDP Leader Jack Layton said the latest revelation was "the straw that
broke the camel's back" for Bernier's cabinet career.
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