REGINA - Revelations that the RCMP will re-investigate a 15-year-old case of alleged fraud in the Saskatchewan NDP caucus office has cost the provincial government house leader his cabinet post.
Glenn Hagel's resignation comes after weeks of dogged pursuit by an Opposition hungry to position itself well for a pending provincial election.
It's the latest twist in a scandal that has also cost a senior NDP staffer his job and prompted charges of wrongdoing from both sides of the legislature floor.
Hagel -- a former speaker of the legislature who is also minister of Culture Youth and Recreation, gaming minister and the minister responsible for Saskatchewan Government Insurance -- cited "important matters of principle related to the integrity and the honesty of government'' in informing reporters that he would step aside while the investigation happens.
"I do not believe that I've done anything wrong,'' he said Wednesday.
"I will continue to proudly serve my own constituents as their MLA. I fully intend to return to serve the people of Saskatchewan as a member of the executive council whatever time the premier considers for it to be appropriate.''
He refused to take questions.
The case involves an NDP caucus worker, Ann Lord, who disappeared from her job under mysterious circumstances in 1992.
Before she left, she wrote a letter to then-caucus chair Hagel and the caucus chief of staff Jim Fodey, confessing she had inflated expense cheques by about $6,000 and taken the money.
When the letter was brought forward by the Opposition Saskatchewan Party last month, Hagel said it was promptly turned over to police in 1992 and no charges were laid.
Regina police, however, said they didn't see the letter until 1994, when another caucus staffer raised concerns that the matter had not been investigated properly.
It turns out police had looked into Lord's background in 1992, but only because a car registered to her husband had caught on fire at the legislature after she left her job.
Investigators learned that she had been wanted on fraud charges in the United States. They say they warned the NDP about this, but Fodey told officers that everything was in order.
The Opposition Saskatchewan Party tabled confidential police reports from the 1992 and 1994 which suggested at least one member of the NDP caucus was concerned there was an attempt by some to cover up the Lord situation.
Back then, the Opposition Tories, who are now defunct, were being investigated by police for abuses related to their expense accounts while in government.
In the years that followed, 14 Conservative members of the legislature and two caucus workers were convicted of fraud and breach of trust.
The government tried to turn the tables on the Opposition by suggesting that the police reports were illegally obtained, but the Saskatchewan Party maintained that the documents showed up anonymously in a brown envelope.
The Opposition then faced charges it was being politically opportunistic when it was revealed that it had sat on the reports for a year before releasing them to the public.
The next election is widely expected this fall.
Fodey has already resigned his position over the confusion, Premier Lorne Calvert has asked the conflict-of-interest commissioner to investigate and the Regina police have undertaken an internal probe to find out how their reports were leaked.
Hagel had resisted Opposition calls for his resignation until Regina police confirmed Wednesday that they had handed the file over to RCMP for a further look.
Regina police spokeswoman Elizabeth Popowich said Regina Chief Cal Johnston felt there were more questions that could have been asked during the earlier investigations and that's why Mounties were called in.
"It's about independent oversight. It's about maintaining public trust,'' she said.
No charges were ever laid against Lord in Saskatchewan. Shortly after she disappeared from the NDP, a Winnipeg judge extradited her to the United States to face fraud charges there under a different name.
The scandal comes at a bad time for Premier Lorne Calvert and his government. A public opinion poll published late last month put the NDP 25 points behind the Saskatchewan Party.
Calvert said he will give Hagel's duties in cabinet to existing ministers.
"I'm hopeful that this review can happen as quickly as possible,'' Calvert said. "I'm very confident that, when the review is complete, there will be no further implication about Mr. Hagel or questions about anything that may have occurred at that time involving Mr. Hagel.''
Opposition deputy leader Ken Krawetz wondered why Hagel didn't quit sooner.
"It's unfortunate that this government's had to wait until it's been pushed,'' he said. Revelations that the RCMP will re-investigate a 15-year-old case of alleged fraud in the Saskatchewan NDP caucus office has cost the provincial government house leader his cabinet post.
Glenn Hagel's resignation comes after weeks of dogged pursuit by an Opposition hungry to position itself well for a pending provincial election.
It's the latest twist in a scandal that has also cost a senior NDP staffer his job and prompted charges of wrongdoing from both sides of the legislature floor.
Hagel -- a former speaker of the legislature who is also minister of Culture Youth and Recreation, gaming minister and the minister responsible for Saskatchewan Government Insurance -- cited "important matters of principle related to the integrity and the honesty of government'' in informing reporters that he would step aside while the investigation happens.
"I do not believe that I've done anything wrong,'' he said Wednesday.
"I will continue to proudly serve my own constituents as their MLA. I fully intend to return to serve the people of Saskatchewan as a member of the executive council whatever time the premier considers for it to be appropriate.''
He refused to take questions.
The case involves an NDP caucus worker, Ann Lord, who disappeared from her job under mysterious circumstances in 1992.
Before she left, she wrote a letter to then-caucus chair Hagel and the caucus chief of staff Jim Fodey, confessing she had inflated expense cheques by about $6,000 and taken the money.
When the letter was brought forward by the Opposition Saskatchewan Party last month, Hagel said it was promptly turned over to police in 1992 and no charges were laid.
Regina police, however, said they didn't see the letter until 1994, when another caucus staffer raised concerns that the matter had not been investigated properly.
It turns out police had looked into Lord's background in 1992, but only because a car registered to her husband had caught on fire at the legislature after she left her job.
Investigators learned that she had been wanted on fraud charges in the United States. They say they warned the NDP about this, but Fodey told officers that everything was in order.
The Opposition Saskatchewan Party tabled confidential police reports from the 1992 and 1994 which suggested at least one member of the NDP caucus was concerned there was an attempt by some to cover up the Lord situation.
Back then, the Opposition Tories, who are now defunct, were being investigated by police for abuses related to their expense accounts while in government.
In the years that followed, 14 Conservative members of the legislature and two caucus workers were convicted of fraud and breach of trust.
The government tried to turn the tables on the Opposition by suggesting that the police reports were illegally obtained, but the Saskatchewan Party maintained that the documents showed up anonymously in a brown envelope.
The Opposition then faced charges it was being politically opportunistic when it was revealed that it had sat on the reports for a year before releasing them to the public.
The next election is widely expected this fall.
Fodey has already resigned his position over the confusion, Premier Lorne Calvert has asked the conflict-of-interest commissioner to investigate and the Regina police have undertaken an internal probe to find out how their reports were leaked.
Hagel had resisted Opposition calls for his resignation until Regina police confirmed Wednesday that they had handed the file over to RCMP for a further look.
Regina police spokeswoman Elizabeth Popowich said Regina Chief Cal Johnston felt there were more questions that could have been asked during the earlier investigations and that's why Mounties were called in.
"It's about independent oversight. It's about maintaining public trust,'' she said.
No charges were ever laid against Lord in Saskatchewan. Shortly after she disappeared from the NDP, a Winnipeg judge extradited her to the United States to face fraud charges there under a different name.
The scandal comes at a bad time for Premier Lorne Calvert and his government. A public opinion poll published late last month put the NDP 25 points behind the Saskatchewan Party.
Calvert said he will give Hagel's duties in cabinet to existing ministers.
"I'm hopeful that this review can happen as quickly as possible,'' Calvert said. "I'm very confident that, when the review is complete, there will be no further implication about Mr. Hagel or questions about anything that may have occurred at that time involving Mr. Hagel.''
Opposition deputy leader Ken Krawetz wondered why Hagel didn't quit sooner.
"It's unfortunate that this government's had to wait until it's been pushed,'' he said.
