Opposition MPs call for ethics committee investigations

[RC]

Allegations of Tory bribery provoke strong denials

Updated: February 29, 2008 at 02:00 AM CST

OTTAWA -- Opposition MPs called for RCMP and ethics committee investigations Thursday into allegations that Conservative representatives tried to bribe the late Independent MP Chuck Cadman for political support in 2005 with a $1-million life insurance policy two months before he died of cancer.

The allegations by Cadman's widow Dona provoked a strong denial by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. And two of Harper's close confidants, Doug Finley and Tom Flanagan, said they had only offered Cadman an uncontested Conservative nomination and "a competitive campaign in a general election" -- an offer some politicians scoffed at on grounds Cadman was nearly at death's door at the time and would not be contesting another election.

In a book excerpt and media interviews, Dona Cadman alleged the offer two days before a close-shave vote that Paul Martin's Liberal minority government barely survived, was so that "if he died, I'd get the million dollars." She said her angry husband, who died less than two months later, showed the two men the door.

"These allegations are completely false and irresponsible," Harper said in the House of Commons when Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion questioned him about the alleged "immoral, unethical and illegal" offer made by two of his envoys.

When deputy Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff bluntly asked Harper if he was saying that Cadman's wife is lying, the prime minister declined to respond.
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/story/4134566p-4726762c.html

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We all know who is lying here and it isn't Cadman's wife