TORONTO – NDP Leader Jack Layton and his candidate David Christopherson must take responsibility for siding with the Conservatives to block the release of the Auditor General’s report on G8 spending waste, Liberal candidate Joe Volpe said today.
“Liberals want Canadians to see the Auditor General’s report – but Mr. Layton’s stunt of calling for a meeting with the Auditor General took some nerve after his party blocked the report’s release before Parliament was dissolved,” said Mr. Volpe, Chair of the Public Accounts Committee in the last Parliament.
“If Jack Layton and David Christopherson had their way, voters would never know that the Conservatives spent nearly $50 million on G8 projects with no controls and without Parliament’s approval – and they missed their chance to expose this waste, abuse and contempt before the election by siding with the Conservatives to bury this report.
Two days before the election was called, Mr. Christopherson – the only NDP member of the House of Commons’ Public Accounts Committee – sided with the Conservatives to kill a Liberal motion introduced by Liberal MP Jean-Claude D’Amours calling for the Auditor General’s G8 and G20 reports to be made public in the event of the dissolution of Parliament – even if there was an election.
At a press conference and in statement, Mr. Christopherson refused to take responsibility for his mistake. He defended his decision and said he still agrees with it, citing “what damage happens when there is a little bit of information,” and saying “this election is about integrity.”
“The ‘little bit of information’ in this report goes straight to the Conservatives’ lack of integrity – crucial facts that Canadians need to consider before they vote on May 2,” said Mr. D’Amours, Liberal candidate for Madawaska-Restigouche. “Instead of admitting his error, Mr. Christopherson is twisting himself into knots to justify his mistake after the fact – and now Jack Layton is trying to change the channel from his party’s appalling lack of judgment.
“The waste, abuse and contempt revealed by what we know so far from the AG’s report is the last straw,” concluded Mr. D’Amours. “There is no excuse for covering it up – and Mr. Layton’s hypocrisy on this matter only goes to show why the Liberal Party is the only alternative that can replace Mr. Harper.”
