It now appears, well at least according to the Conservatives that Bev Oda did "NOT" type the word, or write the word "NOT" on the KAIROS memo. It was one of her aides, as she now claims that she was out of town at the time. So first we have Dr. Kellie Leitch's campaign using the signature stamp of Wasaga Beach Mayor, and Warden of Simcoe County, Cal Patterson on a letter that went out to local Conservative supporters in Simcoe-Grey.
According to a report in the Toronto Star. In a briefing note distributed to Conservative MPs over the weekend, they said, “Hundreds of these internal memos cross ministers’ desks every day.”
The Conservatives are standing behind Oda. To help her defence, they circulated additional details over the weekend about what transpired.
According to new information, senior CIDA staff sent a memo to Oda, recommending the government provide funding for KAIROS. However, Oda did not agree with the decision. But because she was not in Ottawa that day, it was left to her aides to handle the paperwork.
“They, with the minister’s authority, applied her automated signature, which is used when required because a Minister is unable to personally sign a document, and indicated her decision on the memo by clearly indicating that she did NOT approve the funding application,” government officials said in their memo.
They said the altered recommendation was then returned to the very officials who had sent it to Oda for a decision — and whose signatures were still on the document, even though their advice had been overruled.
What a crock...It's another sign of damage control by the Conservatives, and to me it's a sign that they are trying to deflect what appears on the surface to be an act of fraud. Why is it that when these things happen to Conservatives it's just a non-issue, and let's forget it and move on. However if this occured while the Liberals were in power, the Conservatives would demand hearings and they might just try to bring the government down claiming cover-up and fraud.
This is a serious issue and she should not only be fired as a Minister but she should be kicked out of the party. Hell they kicked Helena Guergis out of the party and she did nothing wrong except being married to Rahim Jaffer.
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