OTTAWA - The Liberals are calling for a criminal investigation into a $50-million G8 fund that lavished money on dubious projects in Industry Minister Tony Clement's riding.
Liberal MP Marlene Jennings has written Brian Saunders, the federal director of public prosecutions, asking that he investigate possible "misappropriation of funds."
Her request follows the leak of a draft report by auditor general Sheila Fraser last week.
Fraser noted that the government got parliamentary approval for a Border Infrastructure Fund aimed at easing congestion at Canada-U.S. border crossings.
But she said the government did not mention that $50 million of that fund would be spent on infrastructure projects in Clement's Parry Sound-Muskoka riding, several hundred kilometers from the border.
In a January draft of the report, Fraser said the lack of transparency "raises broader legal questions related to the use of appropriated funds by government."
A subsequent draft dropped any mention of legality or misinformation but came to the same conclusion: that the government was not transparent about the purpose of the fund when it sought parliamentary approval to spend the money.
Fraser has urged people to wait for the final report, which won't be released until after the election.
But Liberals said Wednesday there's already sufficient evidence in publicly available documents to warrant an investigation.
"The Conservatives' G8 spending spree was more than an abuse of power. We believe they may have broken the law," Regina MP Ralph Goodale said.
"The auditor general's leaked draft report points to the Conservatives blatant ploy to swindle Parliament and Canadians and a public paper trail shows the law may have been broken.
Jennings said the government may have violated the Financial Administration Act but also the Criminal Code, under which wilful contravention of an act of Parliament is an indictable offence.
