PENTICTON, B.C. - Former Okanagan Coquihalla MP Jim Hart issued a statement Friday about accusations he received a rich payout to vacate his House of Commons seat for Stockwell Day.
But the statement only muddied already murky waters about whether any financial exchange ever took place seven years ago.
In the statement emailed to Penticton radio station CKOR, Hart said when he first offered to resign his seat to make way for Day, there was no talk about whether he would lose out financially and no discussion about compensation.
But later in the email, Hart said Day told his first caucus meeting in Ottawa that anyone who resigned early "would bear no financial losses.''
"Seven years ago, when my resignation was accepted by the party, I was asked to provide an estimate of my financial losses,'' Hart continued.
"Seven years ago, my desire was to protect my staff from job losses.
"Seven years ago, my desire was to protect my family until I found work. I was just a grassroots guy, not independently wealthy and trying to do the right thing.''
In 2000, Day had just been elected leader of the Canadian Alliance and was seeking a safe riding to run in a byelection for a seat in the House of Commons.
Hart stepped aside and Day won the riding handily.
This week, the Liberals said they found new documents suggesting Hart was paid up to $50,000 to give up his seat.
The RCMP briefly looked into the matter at the time to determine whether Hart had resigned in exchange for money, which is a criminal offence, but decided against launching a formal investigation.
Liberal MP Mark Holland has demanded that Day step down while the RCMP look into the new documents.
Hart now lives and works in the Republic of Georgia in eastern Europe.
One of the documents is a fax sent by Hart to a party official, saying that his resignation was contingent on a compensation package negotiated with Day's chief of staff, Rod Love, the weekend before Hart stepped down.
Hart detailed the amounts that he had been promised by Love and expressed frustration at delays in getting the money.
"Please realize that I took this step of resigning in good faith,'' Hart wrote to party executive director Glen McMurray. "I could have remained in office until the general election, finished my term and not experienced these losses. My resignation was contingent upon this negotiation.''
Another page, a motion apparently voted on by the Canadian Alliance's governing body, approves payment of $20,000 to Hart to pay for his living expenses while he waited to start another job. The motion says the intention was that the party pay half the amount, and the Office of the Leader of the Opposition pay the other half.
At the time, the president of the party had underlined that the negotiation with Hart was not made with the Canadian Alliance but with Day's office.
The Liberals argue that the Opposition leader's office paid for it with public funds.
