ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - One of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's top cabinet ministers says he knows nothing regarding allegations the Conservatives offered a dying MP a lucrative insurance policy in exchange for his support in a confidence vote.
Defence Minister Peter MacKay, who was deputy Conservative leader at the time of the alleged offer to the late Chuck Cadman, said Saturday he has no knowledge of it.
"I don't know anything about how this has come about. Certainly it was something that I was not involved with,'' said MacKay, who was in St. John's, N.L., to make a funding announcement.
"I think it's sad, quite frankly, that this seems to have come up. It's very unfortunate.''
Cadman's widow and daughter allege two Conservative representatives offered him a $1-million life insurance policy to gain his support in a vote on a May 2005 confidence motion.
The former Tory MP -- who had left the party to sit as an Independent MP -- did not vote with the Conservatives, allowing Paul Martin's Liberal government to survive another eight months.
Cadman died of cancer two months after the vote.
Dona Cadman, a Conservative candidate, has said her husband was livid at the alleged offer, which she considered a bribe.
On Friday, a three-year-old radio interview surfaced that lent credence to the Cadman family's claims.
In a June 12, 2005, interview on Vancouver radio station CKNW, Cadman told the Globe and Mail's Dan Cook that the Tories did, in fact, make him financial offers days before the crucial vote.
"There was certainly some, you know, some offers made and some things along those lines about not opposing me and helping out with the finances of the campaign and that sort of thing. But, again, you know, that's all part of the deal that goes on. It's what happens, especially in a minority situation,'' Cadman says.
A tape released Thursday suggests Harper, then Opposition leader, not only knew two party officials allegedly made an "offer'' to Cadman, but also gave it his blessing.
Author Tom Zytaruk taped an interview with Harper in September 2005 for his soon-to-be-released biography of Cadman. On the scratchy 2:37 recording, Harper confirms party officials made a financial appeal to Cadman.
It's not clear exactly what the Conservatives offered Cadman. The Tories insist that Doug Finley and Harper mentor Tom Flanagan only offered to take Cadman back into the party fold.
The RCMP are examining a Liberal party claim that the incident violates Criminal Code provisions on bribery and corruption.
