Liberals are calling on Transport Minister John Baird to launch a formal investigation into the Helena Guergis incident at the Charlottetown airport and to assure Canadians that the security tapes will not be destroyed as part of routine procedure at the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority.
The Liberal Party has filed an Access to Information request for copies of the security video tapes of the February 19th episode involving Minister Guergis’ attack on airport personnel and her inappropriate attempts to force open locked gates. The Liberals have also asked for copies of any incident reports filed by CATSA or any other airport authority.
Liberal Status of Women Critic Anita Neville, who called for Minister Guergis’ resignation on Friday, said the government cannot simply sweep this incident under the rug. Ms. Guergis – who is Minister of State for the Status of Women – could have violated Canadian Aviation Regulations with argumentative, belligerent, and disorderly conduct that could have put passenger safety at risk.
“This is a very serious matter,” said Ms. Neville. “I am calling on Minister Baird to look into these potential violations, and to make sure that the tapes and other information we have requested will not be destroyed, edited or otherwise tampered with, and that our ATI requests be fulfilled in a timely manner.”
Airport security tapes are normally destroyed a few weeks after they are made. Given the seriousness of this matter, Ms. Neville is asking that the video tapes be preserved until the ATI request can be fulfilled and an investigation conducted.
“Ms. Guergis has failed to answer the calls for her resignation, and her government continues to condone her conduct by backing her up, even though Canadian regulations say that her level of verbal abuse and disorderly conduct could result in a criminal record, hefty fines or even imprisonment,” said Ms. Neville.
“Ms. Guergis should not be afforded special treatment because of her status as minister. In fact, she should be held to an even higher standard than the average Canadian. Her behaviour must be properly assessed,” said Ms. Neville.
Background documents:
Access to information request for incident reports
Access to information request for security footage
