Angry in the Great White North
The Income Trust Scandal: RCMP isn't ready to meet with Ralph Goodale
Tuesday, January 03, 2006 at 04:00 PM

Read other posts by Steve Janke published by the National Post
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From the CTV Election Blog:

Last Friday, Finance Minister Ralph Goodale told CTV's that he would be meeting with the RCMP "next week" to discuss the RCMP's income trust investigation. He said that during an interview with CTV's Craig Oliver that was aired Sunday on CTV's Question Period.

Well, that was Ralph Goodale's understanding. Or assumption. Or wish, hoping to get the interview over with as quickly as possible.

Well, if wishes were fishes...

On Monday, we asked Goodale's press secretary Pat Breton what day of the week this meeting would take place and whether or not it was taking place in Regina or Ottawa. Today, Breton sent this reply:

No mtg has been scheduled.

He went on to say:

it's up to the RCMP to determine precisely when. And they haven't.

If we assume all the facts are true as reported, the RCMP has decided to investigate further. This is a double blow to the Liberals, as I see it. First, it means that the scandal will not die an early death in terms of being in the news. Even if there are no new revelations and the story fades, the interview is certain to thrust it back into the spotlight. The closer that interview is to January 23, the worse it is for the Liberals.

Also, and I could be wrong with this, but an interview has two purposes -- to ask questions about information already known, and to reveal new information. The more precisely planned the former, the more likely that you will succeed at the latter.

If the RCMP is investing more time before the interview, I suspect it is because they feel that they haven't exhausted the first level of investigation. That can't be good for Ralph Goodale or anyone else who is going to be interviewed. The more the RCMP can dig up ahead of the interview, the more nasty that interview will be.

[Thanks to reader JW]

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