The Sensenbrenner Affair

Read this exchange between Paul Dewar and Peter Van Loan last night. Van Loan is doing his best to not answer any questions about Sensenbrenner at all. The government's line seems to be "If we feign ignorance, maybe this will all go away." (or in Van Loan's case, "If I act like an ignorant prick, maybe they will stop asking me questions.") I hope they are wrong, but I am not holding my breath. There is something here. Something big. All that seems to be missing is the will to follow the trail, by the MSM (with exception of Travers) .

Mr. Paul Dewar: Mr. Chair, I thank him for that.

I would like to move now to questions around what has been called NAFTA-gate. Very simply, was Frank Sensenbrenner was hired by the embassy?

Hon. Peter Van Loan: Mr. Chair, I believe the issue he is talking about is the investigation that was done by the Clerk of the Privy Council. The Clerk of the Privy Council addressed the questions of the leak of the memo relating to the American presidential campaign to NAFTA. His conclusion was that there was an unduly broad distribution to 232 email addresses of it, of which a number were outside the Government of Canada. That made it difficult to assess what the problem was, but we know the problem was not, as they cleared, the chief of staff to the Prime Minister.

Mr. Paul Dewar: Mr. Chair, I appreciate the answer, but I asked a different question. I asked whether someone had been hired by the American embassy. The gentleman's name was Frank Sensenbrenner. Was he hired by the American embassy, yes or no?

Hon. Peter Van Loan: Mr. Chair, the question about the American embassy I guess would have to be directed to the American government.

Mr. Paul Dewar: Mr. Chair, I stand corrected. I misspoke because I know he was a rather active member of the Republican Party, so I apologize. Was he hired by the Canadian embassy?

Hon. Peter Van Loan: Mr. Chair, I do not know that this is a day for a discussion of the personnel throughout. I do not see the relationship to the issue he raised of the investigation into the leak of the NAFTA memo. The chief Clerk of the Privy Council did a very extensive investigation into that, and its findings are quite conclusive.
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Mr. Paul Dewar: Mr. Chair, we now established that the government is not aware of who has been hired at the American embassy.

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