Montreal's La Presse uses FOI to get Casey RCMP report

Casey says Tories tried to smear him
Outraged MP asks speaker to investigate false accusations
By STEPHEN MAHER
Ottawa Bureau
Tue. Feb 3 - 6:27 PM


OTTAWA — During the last election, Conservatives went to the RCMP to complain that Bill Casey embezzled money from the party — an accusation that the party knew was wrong because they had the financial records that showed it, Mr. Casey said in the House of Commons on Tuesday.Mr. Casey learned of what appears to be an attempt to smear him with a false accusation when a reporter for Montreal's La Presse contacted him last week. The paper had acquired through an access-to-information law a report to the RCMP commissioner on the investigation.

The report says that on Sept. 19, during the election campaign, Conservative party members went to the Bible Hill RCMP detachment to “report the embezzlement of funds by Member of Parliament.”

At issue was $30,000 that the Cumberland-Colchester Conservative riding association transferred to an election campaign fund before Mr. Casey was expelled from the Conservative caucus for voting against his government in a dispute over the Atlantic accords.

But the money was returned to the federal party nine days after he was expelled, Mr. Casey says, and the party is aware of that.

The report to the commissioner says there was “not sufficient grounds or cause to merit the commencement of an investigation.”

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