NDP Leader Tom Mulcair asked Monday how former PMO legal adviser Benjamin Perrinās emails could have been found months after the RCMP first asked for them in relation to the Mike Duffy-Nigel Wright affair.
The opposition used Mondayās question period to ask the federal government about a revelation late Sunday that the Privy Council Office āfoundā Perrinās emails that it had previously said were deleted.
Ā鶹“«Ć½ has learned that Canadaās information commissioner, Suzanne Legault, is investigating a complaint into why the Privy Council Office was unable to provide a single document in response a request by the Liberal Party for all records related to the Duffy-Wright deal.
The office of the commissioner requires that every government record of business value be saved.
In a letter to the RCMPās assistant commissioner Gilles Michaud dated Dec. 1, the PCO said it has informed the Prime Ministerās Office that emails from Perrin -- who allegedly helped broker a deal between Wright and Duffy -- were not deleted, as is standard practice, following Perrinās departure from the PMO in March 2013.
The letter states the account was in fact frozen due to unrelated litigation.
On Monday, Mulcair asked several questions about the newly discovered emails.
āHow could Ben Perrinās emails, the PMās legal counsel, how could they have disappeared for three months?ā Mulcair asked in French. āHow could they have disappeared, whereas these same emails had been retained by them in another legal matter? Explain that to us.ā
Minister for Democratic Reform Pierre Poilievre responded in English by reading from the PCOās letter from Sunday.
āIt says here, and I quote, āit is the operating protocol of the Privy Council Office to close and delete email accounts of departing employees of the PCO and the PMO as a matter of course. Consistent with this protocol, upon Mr. Perrinās departure at the end of his employment in late March 2013, the PMO was provided with notice that his emails had been deleted from the computer server.āā
According to the letter issued Sunday, the PMO asked the PCO to make available to police āthe emails of certain individuals requested by the RCMPā in September 2013. It was at that time the PCO āadvisedā the PMO that Perrinās emails had been deleted from a server āand were no longer available.ā
But Sundayās letter explained that the PCO was wrong in making that claim.
According to the PCO, the email account came to light in recent days, after the RCMP sought further confirmation from the PMOās counsel that Perrinās emails were not available from any other source.
āIn response to this inquiry, on November 29, 2013 we found that Mr. Perrinās emails had in fact been retained due to a litigation hold in an unrelated matter. On learning that Mr. Perrinās emails were in fact available, we informed the PMO on November 30, 2013.ā
The PCO apologized for any inconvenience āit may have caused.ā
āWe regret that we previously failed, even if inadvertently, to accurately inform you and the PMO about the availability of Mr. Perrinās emails.ā
Perrin is currently the subject of a complaint filed by a University of Ottawa law professor, who claims that Perrin and Duffy lawyer Janice Payne violated professional ethics for their alleged roles in a secret deal that saw Wright, Prime Minister Stephen Harperās former chief of staff, give Duffy a $90,000 cheque to cover the senatorās ineligible expenses.
The RCMP is investigating the transaction. In an affidavit filed last month, Cpl. Greg Horton alleges that Wright broke the law by giving Duffy the money.
None of the allegations has been tested or proven in court.
When Mulcair asked what āunrelated litigationā Perrin was involved in, Poilievre replied that he ācannot answer that question,ā noting that the PMO has instructed the PCO to hand over to the RCMP all emails that the force requests.
Liberal House Leader Dominic Leblanc asked if any PMO staffers had access to Perrinās emails between the time of the original RCMP request and when they were discovered.
Poilievre did not directly reply, pointing only to the PCOās apology in the letter.
Kinsella 'not happy about' Senate scandal
Meanwhile, Senate Speaker Noel Kinsella held a rare news conference Monday morning in which he told reporters that he is āembarrassedā by the ongoing expenses scandal, but left many direct questions unanswered about what reforms might be coming to the upper chamber to prevent such events in the future.
Reporters gathered in the red chamber at 11 a.m., hopeful that Kinsella would have a lot to say about the scandal that has led to multiple RCMP investigations and three senators suspended without pay.
Instead, Kinsella opened with a history lesson about the upper chamber before opening the floor to reportersā questions.
When asked whether he feels the need to repair the Senateās image, Kinsella replied: āI do.ā But heās less concerned about image, he said, and more interested that there ābe public trust, public engagement in the work done by members of the House of Commons, as well as work done by members of the Senate.ā
āIām not happy about it,ā he said of the scandal, but later said: āWeāve got to learn from this experience.ā
He also said that the Senate is complying with a request from the RCMP that it turn over all emails by Senators Marjory LeBreton, David Tkachuk, Carolyn Stewart Olsen and Mike Duffy that relate to Duffy's audit and the alleged Wright-Duffy deal.
The Senate clerk said IT staff are compiling those records and will hand them over within a 30-day deadline.
The Senate āis co-operating 100 per cent,ā with the RCMP investigation, Kinsella said.
āParliamentary privilege cannot be used as a shield to inhibit a police investigation,ā he said.
Kinsellaās news conference came days after the Senateās internal economy committee heard from the team that audited Duffyās expenses, after an RCMP affidavit alleged attempted interference in the process by the PMO and Sen. Irving Gerstein, chair of the Conservative Fund.
The affidavit, filed recently in an Ottawa court, suggested Gerstein called a partner at auditing firm Deloitte, Michael Runia, to inquire about the audit of Duffyās expenses. One of the auditors confirmed before the Senate committee last week that Runia called to inquire about their work, but said he cut the call short and the process remained independent.
When asked if he would like to see Gerstein appear before the committee to explain why he called the firm, Kinsella did not provide a yes-or-no answer.
āIf the matter comes up in committee or chambers, it will be dealt with by the members of that committee,ā Kinsella said. Kinsella became chair of the committee last week.
Senators will debate a motion beginning Tuesday that, if passed, would compel Runia to appear before the committee.
When asked if the Senate will ultimately open its own investigation or hold an inquiry, Kinsella said āIām not going to predict the future.ā
With a report from CTVās Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife and files from Karolyn Coorsh