OTTAWA -- Under fire in the House of Commons to answer questions about a former girlfriend with ties to men in biker gangs, Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier told the opposition to butt out of his private life.
"This is about my private life, the private life in the past of my ex-girlfriend," Bernier said in question period. "People's private lives are none of your business."
Maxime Bernier with Julie Couillard in 2007 file photo.
Deputy Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff led off the round of questioning by saying ministerial judgment and national security are not a private matter.
"They are everyone's business and we will raise them in this House," he said.
Bernier said he never thought he would be the subject of such a "nasty and low attack," from an opposition party.
Several Liberals and Bloc Qu ©b ©cois Leader Gilles Duceppe asked questions about Bernier's relationship with Julie Couillard, a 38-year-old Montreal-area resident, whom Bernier began dating last year. They wanted to know if Couillard ever had access to sensitive government information and if Bernier knew about her past when he brought her to his swearing-in ceremony in August 2007 when he became foreign affairs minister.
Bernier didn't rise to answer those questions; instead, House leader Peter Van Loan and Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon fielded all subsequent questions on the topic.
"I think it's quite clear that these are politically motivated personal attacks on someone's private life that have no place in this House of Commons," said Van Loan.
Bernier's private life became a subject of public discussion on Parliament Hill Wednesday with reports his ex-girlfriend had ties to men in biker gangs in the 1990s in Quebec and was once a potential target of Hells Angels boss Maurice Boucher.
Speaking to reporters after question period, Ignatieff continued to press the point that questions around security need to be answered.
"Let's be very clear. This is not a moral issue. Mme. Couillard's past, what she did, the length of her skirts, I could care less, that's not the issue," he said. "The issue is whether the national security clearances for the minister were conducted, number one, and secondly, whether she had, inadvertently or advertently, connection or contact with or exposure to documents related to the national security of Canada."
Reached by telephone at her home in suburban Montreal on Thursday, Couillard was tight-lipped.
"The record will be set straight, but not right now," she said before hanging up.
-- Canwest News Service
PREVIOUS
