“Once again the Prime Minister has proven he is a strong, effective leader,” says Leon Benoit, Member of Parliament for Vegreville-Wainwright. Benoit was commenting on the recent appointment of Professor David Johnston, President of the University of Waterloo, as Independent Advisor into the Karlheinz Schreiber allegations.

Benoit points out that until recently, all that existed were opposition attacks and a media report. The arrival of a sworn affidavit with new allegations changed the environment. (The new allegations in the affidavit stem from a private lawsuit currently before the courts and do not involve the federal government.)

The Prime Minister very quickly decided that it was necessary to appoint an independent and impartial third-party to review what course of actions may be appropriate given these new allegations.

“Given the conflicting information and allegations and the extended time period over which the events referred to have occurred, our government decided to ask a third party to advise us on appropriate terms of reference for a public inquiry,” explains Benoit. (The reason for the third-party review is that the former Government of Canada, the Department of Justice, was part of the settlement that occurred on January 19th.)

“In order to ensure a completely impartial opinion with respect to this affair, Prime Minister Harper realized that an independent opinion was needed,” states Benoit. “Once the review is complete, the Government will respond, and act.”

Dr. Johnston will provide his final report to the Prime Minister by January 11, 2008.

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