Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the Liberals owe the RCMP an apology after a 14-month probe into the income-trust scandal resulted in criminal charges against a senior civil servant.
Harper told reporters Friday that the charges show "it was a real scandal" and not an invention of partisan politics.
"I believe the Liberals should apologize to [former RMCP commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli] for suggesting to the people of Canada that the RCMP had invented that scandal," Harper said.
Serge Nadeau, general director of tax policy and analysis at the federal Department of Finance, was charged with criminal breach of trust on Thursday. It is alleged he used confidential government information to purchase securities for his personal benefit, the RCMP said in a statement.
He has been suspended without pay and will appear in court in Ottawa late next month.
The Mounties added that they found no evidence that anyone benefited from an alleged government leak and that no one else will face charges.
The Liberals said Thursday that the Mounties' findings exonerate the party, saying they are proof that there was no politically motivated leak.
They have demanded an apology from their political opponents.
"The RCMP income trust investigation exonerates the Liberal Party of Canada and shows that the Conservative and NDP allegations of a politically-motivated leak were false," said Liberal Leader Stephane Dion in a news release.
The RCMP investigation was launched because of events on Nov. 23, 2005. That's when trading of income trusts and related stocks spiked hours before an anticipated announcement by then-finance minister Ralph Goodale that the Liberal government would not tax income trusts.
At the time, the Liberals denied that anyone in the finance minister's office leaked information before the tax announcement was made.
