Canadian opposition parties calling for resignation of minister

Government opposition is crying for the resignation of Lisa Raitt, Canada's Natural Resources Minister, after secret documents were left behind, forgotten at an Ottawa television station in late May.

Lisa Raitt "offered to resign" over the breach of security that occurred when she left a binder of secret government documents at an Ottawa-based CTV television station. The binder had been forgotten there for days. Raitt's offer was rejected by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The blunder resulted in highly sensitive information about Canada's nuclear industry funding being revealed to the public. The documents show that Canada's nuclear industry is in trouble, sucking up billions of taxpayer dollars for repairs and maintenance, but still not producing expected results. According to Stephen Harper during question period yesterday, Raitt was on the job when she left the binder behind. Harper's reasoning is that Raitt is not responsible for leaving behind the documents, although presumably she had brought the documents with her to the CTV station. The idea that Raitt is not responsible for the secret documents contravenes Canada's own protocol for dealing with secret and confidential materials. Chapter 5 of Canada's Industrial Security Manual outlines the different levels of document security. It states that the protocol for the handling of secret documents is that only the person with the "need to know" is to have access to the documents. The Ministry of Natural Resources has had a recent history of difficulty complying with some national security protocols, as shown in a 2006 Natural Resources Audit of the Security of Cabinet Documents 2006. In response to the uproar, Raitt said that her press secretary was responsible for the error, and the matter has been dealt with appropriately. Jasmine MacDonell, the secretary in question, resigned yesterday. In 2008, one of Stephen Harper's ministers, Maxine Bernier, then Foreign Affairs Minister, left secret documents behind at his then-girlfriend's home. Bernier was forced by Harper to resign. At the time, Harper said

"Let me be clear: This is not to do with the minister's private life," Harper said Monday. "What matters here is that rules respecting government classified documents were broken. Obviously it was not done on purpose … but it was clearly done and it has to be treated appropriately."

Opposition critics are incensed by Harper's response to this latest breach by one of the Conservative ministers. The Liberal party has adopted the strategy of letting Harper's past words speak for them on their website, including the following:

“Mr. Speaker, the rules governing classified documents are always serious. That is why, when the minister became aware of the situation, he told me and tendered his resignation, which I accepted.”

"Ministers are always responsible for the protection of classified documents. The minister admitted his mistake in this matter and resigned his post. That is why I accepted his resignation. The former minister did the honourable thing by resigning."

“The minister admitted that he failed to protect classified documents. That is why he offered his resignation and why I accepted it."

- Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Hansard, June 2, 2008