The author who recorded an interview with Prime Minister Stephen Harper about alleged "financial considerations" offered to the late MP Chuck Cadman has categorically denied the tape was doctored.
"What I have on my tape is the interview in its entirety," Tom Zytaruk told CTV's Mike Duffy Live Wednesday.
He said the only break in his tape may have occurred during the interview when Harper appeared to have ended the conversation. But Harper then turned back to add something to the interview and Zytaruk said he immediately turned his recorder back on.
Lawyers for the Conservative Party have filed a court motion to prevent the Liberal Party from using what they claimed was a "doctored" 2005 tape recording of Harper.
Last March, Harper sued the Liberal Party of Canada for defamation.
The lawsuit concerned bribery allegations published on the Liberal Party's website stemming from information contained in Zytaruk's book, "Like a Rock: The Chuck Cadman Story."
In the book, Zytaruk, a Vancouver-based journalist, claims that Cadman was offered a $1-million life insurance policy by Tory officials for a key vote against the Liberals.
Cadman had been diagnosed with terminal cancer at the time of the alleged event.
In a taped interview with Zytaruk, Harper allegedly says, "The offer to Chuck was that it was only to replace financial considerations he might lose due to an election.''
Directly answering the question if he had made any changes to the tape, Zytaruk said flatly: "I would have to have rocks in my head to do something like that. Certainly, all of Canada would agree."
"I specifically wanted to ask Mr. Harper about this insurance policy ... what I put in my book is all the 'ands,' 'ums,' and 'ors' because I wanted it to be spot-on accurate," he added.
However, the Tories claim they have proof that a recording of Harper discussing such "financial considerations" offered to Cadman was altered.
"We're not alleging that any individual has doctored this tape," MP James Moore told Mike Duffy Live.
"What we're saying is that (according to) two experts the tape has been doctored. We don't know who did it, but we know that it has been done."
Moore added that two audio recording experts his party has consulted are prepared to testify that "the tapes have been altered in a way that misrepresents the original conversation."
Zytaruk said he released the recorded interview in its entirety with no alterations.
Tories say tape incomplete
Earlier on Wednesday, Moore had said the tape was incomplete. He said the "tape was doctored by inserting a sound clip that was fabricated."
"The Liberal Party has been caught using a doctored tape to make serious criminal accusations against the Prime Minister of Canada on the eve of an expected election campaign," said Moore.
"There is no truth to their reckless accusations. Their day in court will come soon enough. For now, Mr. Dion and the Liberals must offer Canadians a complete and honest explanation."
Moore said Tory party lawyers filed a motion in Ontario Superior Court Wednesday seeking an injunction against the Liberals to stop them from using the recording.
However, he did not say how the tape had been changed. He also did not indicate or offer any proof that the Liberals knew the tape had been altered.
Cadman family's response
Cadman's daughter, Jodi, told Mike Duffy Live in February that the late Independent MP did indeed tell several of his family members about enticements the Tories had allegedly offered him in 2005 in an effort to influence his vote. Cadman said she believed her father didn't go public with his account of the enticement claims because he wanted to spend his final days peacefully.
Jodi Cadman's account supported her mother Dona's statement to Zytaruk about a meeting the Independent MP had with two Conservative representatives two days before an important parliamentary vote in 2005.
Cadman's daughter said her father told her, on his deathbed, about an offer of an insurance policy and other enticements in exchange for his vote on a 2005 budget vote.
"My father told me directly that he had been offered a million-dollar life insurance policy by the Conservatives," Jodi Cadman said.
"He didn't give me any more information than that. I don't have names, dates, where it took place. I wish I did. I wish I had asked him more about it."
Cadman said she believes her father was "offended" by the alleged offer.
Last month, the RCMP said they had examined the allegations against the Tories and determined that no charges will be laid.
The Mounties said they found no evidence to support the allegations of bribery laid out in the biography of Cadman, who died in 2005.
The Conservatives have acknowledged that two party officials close to Harper, then-opposition leader, met with Cadman over his vote.
But the Tories say that they only offered a repayable loan to cover his campaign expenses if Cadman would rejoin the party.
Cadman, who was an Independent at the time, sided with the Liberals in the end, keeping then-prime minister Paul Martin in office for the remainder of 2005.
With files from The Canadian Press
