West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country MP John Reynolds is striking back at the federal Liberals over the controversy surrounding Tory MP Gurmant Grewal and Belinda Stronach's decision to leave the Conservative Party to sit as a Liberal.
Reynolds filed formal complaints this week against three Liberals - former Ontario premier David Peterson, federal Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh and the prime minister's chief of staff Tim Murphy. All three of the Liberals are lawyers and Reynolds filed his complaints with the Law Society of B.C. and Ontario's Law Society of Upper Canada.
In the letters, the Conservative MP alleges Peterson, Dosanjh and Murphy compromised the integrity of the legal profession. According to Reynolds, the trio may have violated the section of the Criminal Code that prohibits anyone from offering members of Parliament "valuable consideration, office, place or employment'' to influence their work in any way.With the letters to the law societies Reynolds included items he considers proof.
"The transcripts attached to this letter indicate that the Member participated in discussions in which Gurmant Grewal, the Member of Parliament for Newton North Delta, appears to have been offered, in exchange for not voting against the government's budget, a cabinet position or a "significant position" for Mr. Grewal's wife," Reynolds wrote in his complaints against Dosanjh and Murphy.
Grewal recorded his conversations with Dosanjh and Murphy. Grewal said he recorded two to four hours of audio and released 90 minutes of the material. There is currently a dispute over whether or not the tapes were manipulated in any way. The Liberals claim the tapes were doctored to suggest wrongdoing on their part.
The tapes are now in the hands of the RCMP.
Reynolds also provided transcripts from conversations involving Peterson and Stronach.
According to Reynolds, Peterson offered Stronach a cabinet position if she jumped from the Tory ship to become a Liberal.
After Stronach left the Conservatives last month, Paul Martin gave her the Human Resources ministry.The Bloc and NDP have asked the RCMP to look into Martin's involvement.
Parliament's ethics commissioner is also investigating.
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