June 09, 2009
Cullen: health minister’s credibility “completely shot”
CP wire
Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt has found herself in another political firestorm after a tape recording was released Monday night in which she says she wants to take credit for fixing the “sexy” isotope crisis, and questions the competence of Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq.
The revelation is sure to put Raitt squarely in the crosshairs of her political opponents.
“The credibility of the minister is completely shot,” said New Democrat MP Nathan Cullen. “She saw the health crisis as an opportunity to make her career. It’s a disgrace.”
Privately, some Conservative staffers were speculating Monday about whether Raitt would survive.
“It is clear we are in a national health-care crisis with a minister who is badly distracted,” Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff said in the House of Commons Monday.
“We have a minister who is trying to recover lost binders, trying to explain incriminating tapes, and thousands of Canadians are desperately waiting for medical treatments. This is a fiasco.”
But Dimitri Soudas, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s press secretary, seemed to suggest Monday that Harper had no plans to take disciplinary action.
“While embarrassing, this in no way affects the minister’s ability to do her job,” Soudas said in an e-mailed statement. “Ministers Raitt and Aglukkaq have the confidence of the PM.”
The tape recording was made inadvertently by Jasmine MacDonnell, Raitt’s former director of communications, as the two of them travelled by car from Victoria to Vancouver on Jan. 30.
MacDonnell, who last week resigned her position with Raitt’s office after documents marked “Secret” were left at an Ottawa TV studio, tried unsuccessfully to prevent the Halifax Chronicle-Herald from publishing a story about the tapes.
A judge ruled against MacDonnell’s request for an injunction late Monday and also lifted a publication ban.
The Chronicle-Herald published the story on its website within an hour of the judge’s ruling and posted the recording of the conversation.
In the tape at one point, Raitt and MacDonnell speak about their unsuccessful efforts to get Aglukkaq to contribute to a news release they wanted to issue about the medical isotope supply.
On the tape, Raitt says Aglukkaq and her staff seem “terrified” of the issue.
“Good,” Raitt continues. “Because when we win on this, we get all the credit. I’m ready to roll the dice on this. This is an easy one. You know what solves this problem? Money. And if it’s just about money, we’ll figure it out. It’s not a moral issue.
“It’s really clear,” said Raitt. “Oh. Leona. I’m so disappointed.”
Shortly after that exchange, MacDonnell says to Raitt the isotope issue is hard to control, “because it’s confusing to a lot of people.”
“But it’s sexy,” Raitt responds. “Radioactive leaks. Cancer.”
“Nuclear contamination,” MacDonnell says.
“But it’s only about money,” Raitt concludes.
The Chronicle-Herald reported the digital tape recorder, with 15 different files — including a five-hour candid conversation that included Raitt, MacDonnell and their government driver — came into the possession of Stephen Maher, the newspaper’s Ottawa bureau chief, after MacDonnell left the tape recorder in a Parliament Hill washroom.
