As you know, Conservative Maxime Bernier, the Foreign Affairs Minister, is under attack because his former girlfriend was once married to a notorious Quebec biker.

What is more interesting is that the media had known about this, but had never printed anything, because the woman in question, Julie Couillard, had been cleared some time ago of any suspicions.

From Chantal Herbert, we learn that the Liberals and the Bloc Quebecois had been lobbying the media quite hard to print something about this, a story that the media had concluded was not newsworthy:

On Wednesday, [Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe] expressed concerns over reports that Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier's former girlfriend once had ties with biker gangs. But the inside story is that, behind the scenes, the Bloc (and the Liberals) had been actively lobbying the media to break the news for weeks.

Julie Couillard has no criminal record. She has never been charged with criminal activity and some of Quebec's crack investigative reporters failed to find evidence that she has had links with bikers since a 1999 divorce.

My source tells me that this following exchange is what brought the story into the open.  It happened during a scrum on Wednesday, May 7:

Question: Mr. Duceppe, how concerned are you that the Foreign Affairs Minister was involved with a woman who was involved with organized crime?

Gilles Duceppe: Is the matter official now? I think that would be certainly a good question to ask. We'll ask those questions. We know the rumour is going around. We think it is just inadmissible. I wonder if there was a security check on that. It has to -- there's no other choice than having a security check. It's a lack of judgment not only of him but of the one who name him - I'm talking about the prime minister. And I think that this has to be clear and I know the rumours. I think we're working on it also.

The question was posed by a senior Ottawa correspondent, but I won't name him right now.  What is of interest is Duceppe's odd response:

• Is the matter official now?
• We'll ask those questions. We know the rumour is going around.
• I think we're working on it also.

We know the rumour is going around.  According to Chantal Herbert, the rumour was being carried around by Liberal and Bloc Quebecois members and it had been going nowhere for weeks.

I think we're working on it also.  He thinks?  Does anything happen within the Bloc Quebecois that he does not know about?  Oh, they're working on it, that's for certain, and it appears that they have been working on it for some time.  That might include working the press.

Is the matter official now?  Gilles Duceppe seemed to be asking if the media had put into motion their side of the plan.  Whether this was the cue to start the next stage of this orchestrated attack (though there is a suggestion that the media was coerced).

Imagine if the reporter had answered Gilles Duceppe's question: Yes, it is official now.  We've talked with you and several Liberal members via a teleconference, and have decided that we can run this story on your behalf even though we have ignored the story for quite some time.  You can now start attacking Maxime Bernier as per your plan.

I would like to know what Gilles Duceppe expected as an answer to "Is it official now?"

You don't ask a question unless you expect a response. But it sure sounds like Gilles Duceppe was asking if this was his cue.

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