[R-G] NDP considers legal action after Tories tape private meeting

[Anthony Fenton]

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081130.wfiscaltape1130/BNStory/Front
NDP considers legal action after Tories tape private meeting

BRUCE CHEADLE

THE CANADIAN PRESS

November 30, 2008 at 5:58 PM EST

OTTAWA — The NDP says it may pursue criminal charges after the  
Conservatives covertly listened in, taped and distributed audio of a  
closed-door NDP strategy session.

NDP Leader Jack Layton can be heard on the tapes boasting to his  
caucus that he had prepared scenarios to bring down the government  
with the help of the Bloc Quebecois before the Conservatives issued  
their recent economic statement.

The caucus talks took place Saturday and a recording of the meeting  
was delivered to the media on Sunday by Prime Minister Stephen  
Harper's staff.

In response, NDP MP Thomas Mulcair said the government is panicking  
and desperate to change the channel on its economic management and may  
have committed what could be an illegal act.
New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton speaks during Question Period  
in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa November 20, 2008.
Enlarge Image

New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton speaks during Question Period  
in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa November 20,  
2008. (Chris Wattie/REUTERS)
The Globe and Mail

Mr. Mulcair said his party is looking into “the application of the  
Criminal Code,” in the taping.

As for the substance of the call, Mr. Mulcair said the talks with the  
Bloc were perfectly normal consultations between parties in a minority  
government. They began only after the government's economic update was  
delivered last Thursday, he said.

And Mr. Mulcair pointed as an example to consultations that took place  
between Mr. Layton, Mr. Harper and the Bloc's Gilles Duceppe in  
September 2004 when the Liberals were freshly installed as a minority  
government.

Mr. Harper, who was leader of the Opposition at that time, held  
lengthy discussions with Mr. Layton and Mr. Duceppe aimed at  
supplanting Paul Martin's Liberal government without an election in  
the fall of 2004.

Those talks did not invoke a coalition, but rather revolved around  
replacing the elected Liberal minority with a Conservative government  
led by Mr. Harper and supported by the New Democrats and Bloc on an  
issue-by-issue basis.

During Saturday's conference call, Mr. Layton also is heard saying it  
doesn't matter what the policy issues are, they just need to defeat  
the Harper minority. He says he hopes a lasting coalition can be built  
that will survive two or three years in government.

NDP spokesman Brad Lavigne said the Conservatives are merely trying to  
deflect attention from the government losing the confidence of the  
House of Commons.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister's Office said there was nothing  
unethical about covertly listening in to the private NDP  
deliberations, taping those discussions and releasing them to the media.

An unidentified Tory was “invited” to participate in the call, said  
PMO spokesman Dimitri Soudas.

“Maybe the invitation was meant for the Bloc, and they accidentally  
invited us. We were invited. When you get invited somewhere you have  
the opportunity to choose to participate or not participate.”