Angry in the Great White North
The Income Trust Scandal: Mike Duffy says CARP is changing its story
Wednesday, January 04, 2006 at 09:08 PM

Read other posts by Steve Janke published by the National Post
Leader

From December 7:

"The day they made the announcement they phoned us and said something is going to be said," the associate executive director of Canada's Association for the Fifty Plus, William Gleberzon, told CTV News.

Gleberzon said the call came from a senior policy advisor in the finance minister's office.

When asked what exactly he was told, Gleberzon indicated the specifics were vague, but the underlying message was clear.

"They said something was going to be announced later in the day. And we assumed that if they told us that ... it would probably be something we'd be happy with."

So CARP got a nudge-nudge-wink-wink call? Well, the next day CARP backpedalled:

There is no truth to the serious accusations that CARP had inside information about Minister Ralph Goodale's announcement regarding Income Trusts. In fact, the political crossfire regarding who knew what, when and how about the Minister's announcement has created the false allegation that there was a leak to CARP.

The record must be set straight! At no time was CARP given an indication by the Minister's office of when the announcement would be made or what it would say.

Needless to say, the Mounties are interested in talking to these CARP folks:

The RCMP interviewed an executive member of a seniors group shortly before launching a criminal probe into a possible federal leak about income trust changes.

Gleberzon says he received a phone call from Finance Minister Ralph Goodale's office indicating there would be an announcement on income trusts.

But he denies being told of the content or timing.

The article doesn't provide more detail on that interview, but tonight on Mike Duffy's Countdown, Mike Duffy said to Ralph Goodale's Parliamentary Secretary John McKay that he, Duffy, "understood" that CARP was reversing its reverse, returning the original story it told to CTV and later retracted.

John McKay had no response, and Duffy let it drop.

Has Bill Glerberzon returned to his story that the phone call from Goodale's office indicated the nature of the decision yet to be announced? If so, why the reversal of the reversal? And did any other elements of the CARP story change?

Stay tuned...

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