OTTAWA -- The widow of former MP Chuck Cadman has contradicted public accounts by author Tom Zytaruk of what happened the day of an interview that is pivotal in Prime Minister Stephen Harper's lawsuit against the federal Liberal party.
In a sworn affidavit submitted in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Monday, Dona Cadman says the journalist did not meet Harper in Cadman's house and he was not introduced by the late MP's wife. "Nobody came inside my house while Mr. Harper was in the house with me," she said. "I did not introduce Tom Zytaruk to Mr. Harper on Sept. 9, 2005."
Zytaruk, Cadman's biographer, said Monday he was "extremely surprised, disappointed and deeply distressed" by the widow's statement.
"I haven't seen these affidavits and would be extremely surprised if Dona said I wasn't in the house that day," Zytaruk said in an e-mail response to Canwest News Service. "In fact, we were both still inside the house after Harper stepped out, and she indicated to me that now was my chance to go interview him. Moreover, immediately after I interviewed Harper outside, I went back into Dona's house and played the tape back to her in her living room."
Affidavits by Harper and two of his aides also say Zytaruk did not turn his tape recorder on and off as he interviewed Harper outside the house.
The documents are aimed at providing what is described in the documents as "circumstantial evidence that Mr. Zytaruk is presenting a misleading and false account of the interview."
Harper's legal team earlier submitted analysis of a copy of Zytaruk's tape-recorded interview with Harper, which concluded the tape was "doctored."
-- Canwest News Service
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