RCMP declines to lay charges in Cadman affair
Liberal MP Dominic LeBlanc had asked the Mounties in February to investigate allegations the Conservatives tried to bribe the dying British Columbia Independent MP by offering him a million-dollar life insurance policy, just days before a critical vote in 2005 that could have toppled the minority Liberal government at the time.
In a letter to Mr. LeBlanc made public on Friday, the RCMP said it had finished its investigation, and that, with the advice of the Ontario Attorney General, the police force had decided not to lay charges.
"The investigation disclosed no evidence to support a charge under the Criminal Code or under the Parliament of Canada Act," said the letter, dated May 15.
"I would like to thank you for bringing this matter to our attention."
Since they surfaced several months ago in a book about Cadman's life, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservatives have flatly denied the allegations.
In the book, Mr. Cadman's widow, Dona, now a Conservative candidate in her husband's old B.C. riding of Surrey North, says her dying husband told her of an attempted bribe.
She quotes her husband as telling her that two unidentified Conservative representatives offered him a $1-million life insurance policy if he would vote with the Conservatives in a May 19, 2005, vote of confidence that could have toppled the minority Liberal government of Paul Martin.
Dona Cadman has publicly confirmed her late husband's statements; her daughter, Jodi, and son-in-law, Mark, have also publicly said he told them separately of the offer.
When the Liberals began hammering away at the Conservatives in the House of Commons over the issue, the Tories said the only offer Chuck Cadman received was to rejoin the party and get assistance running in the next election as a Conservative. Mr. Cadman was a former Reform and Canadian Alliance MP, but lost the nomination for the Conservative party prior to the 2004 election.
The Liberals responded that the explanation made no sense because Mr. Cadman was in the terminal stage of cancer. He died about six weeks after the crucial vote.
Opposition MPs kept pressing the issue and asking Harper to explain comments made on tape to the book's author, Tom Zytaruk.
The author has an audiotape of a brief interview with Harper on the driveway of the Cadman home in September 2005. On the tape, Harper says "the offer to Chuck was that it was only to replace financial considerations he might lose due to an election."
Mr. Harper told the House of Commons that "the party was prepared to assist Chuck Cadman in securing his nomination and to ensure, financially and otherwise, that he was able to fight a successful election campaign."
As the Liberals kept up their attack on the Tories, Harper threatened to sue them for libel, but the Liberals continued to push the issue. Mr. Harper then launched a $2.5-million libel suit against the Liberals for repeatedly alleging he knew of an attempt by Conservative officials to bribe Mr. Cadman.
In a news release Friday, Mr. LeBlanc said he accepts the RCMP's decision, but that Mr. Harper still has a duty to explain everything he knows about the discussions with Cadman in advance of the historic vote.
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