Globe and Mail (Free subscription) | 29/08/2008
The Mounties are investigating a controversial real-estate deal that the Harper government cancelled yesterday, and on which Julie Couillard allegedly lobbied two senior Conservative officials while she was dating them.
Globe and Mail (Free subscription) | 07/08/2008
Julie Couillard did not steal secret diplomatic documents as suggested in a government report released last week, her lawyer said in an interview published yesterday.As the opposition continued to lambaste the federal probe that produced the report as a ''botched'' undertaking, Ms. Couillard's lawyer dismissed allegations that she took documents belonging to former foreign affairs...
Progressive Bloggers (Free subscription) | 03/08/2008
According to Bernier, it's all Julie Couillard's fault. She stole the confidential documents. Such an easy ruse, she is rather a vulnerable woman in this situation as her ex is the former "Honourable" Foreign Affairs Minister, therefore he has more credibility in his own head. This is a new low that Bernier has hit to rehabilitate himself. Also a new low for the Harper Government. Would...
Angry in the Great White North (Free subscription) | 02/08/2008
A report from an internal Foreign Affairs department investigation has concluded that Maxime Bernier was the victim in the events that led to his resignation from cabinet. On April 4, Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier visited the apartment of his girlfriend, Julie Couillard . On May 26, Bernier was forced to resign from Stephen Harper 's cabinet. Apparently, Bernier had left sensitive...
Progressive Bloggers (Free subscription) | 02/08/2008
Really? That's what I'm reading between the lines with this report from the Department of Foreign Affairs. Maxime the victim. Poor Maxime.
Progressive Bloggers (Free subscription) | 07/08/2008
News that Julie Couillard could be testifying before the Public Safety Committee by the end of the month. Three words: Standing. Room. Only. Contradicting accounts of how sensitive NATO briefing notes ended up in the home of former Foreign Affairs minister Maxime Bernier's girlfriend sparked new calls Wednesday for a deeper probe into the affair that cost Bernier his job.Liberal public...
Accidental Deliberations (Free subscription) | 03/08/2008
As embarrassing as the Bernier report may seem to be, it's worth noting how useful some of its logic may turn out to be later on. After all, the report's basis for assigning blame almost entirely to Julie Couillard was her refusal to be interviewed for the benefit of the investigation in the absence of any obligation to do so. Which lines up rather nicely with the tactic being taken by...
David Akin's On the Hill (Free subscription) | 02/08/2008
Here is a description of the documents Maxime Bernier left behind at Julie Couillard’s residence: “The information provided to the Minister Bernier comprised a NATO Summit Background Book, a pocket-sized NATO Summit Program "Scenario" Book and a Media Spokesperson’s Book. The NATO Summit Background Book was marked SECRET and comprised 26 different documents at various levels - SECRET...
Progressive Bloggers (Free subscription) | 04/08/2008
... basically disgraced former Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier and blames his ex-girlfriend Julie Couillard? Not one iota. When have the Conservatives ever accepted responsibility for anything under their watch as a government? Never. They always try to find a scapegoat for their bumblings. Add this to the list, and I also won’t be surprised if I see some Conservative supporters...
Progressive Bloggers (Free subscription) | 04/08/2008
The report, drafted by the Foreign Affairs Department, which Mr. Bernier headed until May, concludes that there is no reason to disbelieve Mr. Bernier’s statement that he never took the classified documents out of his unlocked briefcase during a visit April 4 and 5 to the apartment of girlfriend Julie Couillard.
The Post Chronicle (Free subscription) | 04/08/2008
... said the investigators acknowledged they did not interview Bernier's now-former girlfriend, Julie Couillard, nor discuss any evidence she might have lifted the papers from Bernier's briefcase.
CBC.ca (Free subscription) | 02/08/2008
The documents were briefing notes to prepare Bernier for the NATO summit in Bucharest on April 2 and 3. He stepped down as foreign affairs minister in May when his former girlfriend Julie Couillard revealed he had left the documents at her home. The dicuments were returned several weeks later.
