Mr. Speaker. Statements made by Mr. Allooloo that were broadcast this morning over CBC radio have placed me in a position of having to elaborate on the circumstances surrounding my decision to ask for the Member's resignation.
While I had hoped that this matter would have already been dealt with and that we could get on to other business, I believe that I must respond to the public reports.
As you know, Mr. Allooloo told this House last week that he attended a federal/provincial meeting in Saskatoon. During a meeting I had with him the next day to review a comprehensive chronology that was being prepared, Mr. Allooloo repeated his remarks and added further details.
Mr. Allooloo reported that he left Edmonton at 7:00 am on November 15 to attend the meeting in Saskatoon, and that he returned to Edmonton in time to catch a late evening flight to Yellowknife. He did not travel to Saskatoon to attend the meeting.
Mr. Allooloo told me he met with his deputy minister of Renewable Resources in Edmonton the evening before his departure to Saskatoon. He didn't. He hadn't spoken to his deputy minister since November 9.
Mr. Allooloo subsequently admitted that he had missed the flight to Saskatoon and that he didn't attend the meeting. Mr. Allooloo then stated he participated in a conference call at noon hour on November 15 with delegates to the federal/provincial meeting. There is no record of a conference call taking place.
Mr. Speaker, in a statement on Monday I explained that the House and the public must be able to rely upon the truthfulness of statements given by Members of the Executive Council. I emphasized that this is a principle that I am not prepared to compromise.
Furthermore, my decision to ask for the Member's resignation from Cabinet had nothing to do with his handling of the Iqaluit situation. It was based entirely on the misrepresentation he made to this House about the Saskatoon meeting and to myself the following day during preparation of the chronology I had promised to table in this House.