You know it’s serious when they bring in the Mounties.
A closed-door meeting of the NDP caucus was taped without their knowledge by Conservative party member, John Duncan, and then released to the media. Not only is the NDP party looking into pressing charges against the Conservatives for this, they’re asking the Mounties to investigate. Yeah, that’s right, the Mounties.
The NDP is calling for a police investigation of whether the governing Conservatives committed a criminal offence by recording a confidential New Democrat strategy session last weekend. [...] “I request that the RCMP initiate an investigation into a possible violation of the Criminal Code of Canada,” wrote Anne McGrath, chief of staff to NDP Leader Jack Layton.
The Tory defence is that they were invited, and it is not illegal to record a conversation one was invited to join. The NDP response is that the invitation John Duncan received was actually intended for NDP MP Linda Duncan. They state that it is still illegal, since it is obvious the invitation was sent in error.
While the charges might not amount to much – lawyers point out that the offence is minor, and it is difficult to prove that John Duncan actually knew that what he was doing was wrong – this is still serious business. I mean, Mounties!
