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A Privy Council report on the NAFTA leak clears the prime minister's chief of staff and Canada's ambassador to Washington and lays blame on the Department of Foreign Affairs.

There is no evidence that the prime minister's Chief of Staff Ian Brodie or Ambassador Michael Wilson disclosed any classified information that caused a cross-border furor over the North American Free Trade Agreement, says the report, which was released on Friday.

It's unclear, however, who leaked a copy of the diplomatic report that contained information about the meeting between Senator Barack Obama's adviser and the Canadian consul general in Chicago.

The Associated Press wire agency obtained a leaked copy of the diplomatic report on March 2, according to the report.

However, there are indications the report or information about the meeting was known to the media the week before.

"The investigation has been unable to determine who leaked the report, to whom it was leaked or whether there was only one leak," says the report on the investigation into "unauthorized disclosure of sensitive diplomatic information."

The report goes on to say that the original diplomatic report was "incorrectly classified" and "had an inappropriately broad distribution list."

The memo claimed that a senior adviser to Obama told Canadian diplomats that the presidential candidate isn't serious about renegotiating the NAFTA trade deal -- and suggested comments Obama would make on NAFTA are more about political posturing than a real policy plan.

The Clinton campaign used the reports to claim Obama was making false promises to win votes.

A CTV report on the night of Feb. 27 initiated the coverage of the story, and CTV stands by its reporting.

"The facts of our reporting on this matter were accurate. We don't discuss details on our newsgathering efforts," Robert Hurst, President of Â鶹ӰÊÓ, said in a statement.

The Privy Council report includes recommendations to strengthen safeguards:

• Recipients of diplomatic reporting in all government departments and ministerial offices should be reminded on of the sensitivity of such documents and the need to protect them.
• The Department of Foreign Affairs and International trade (DFAIT) should extend the protocols it has put in place, since the leak, to all sensitive reporting.
• Any future undertakings signed by media representatives in being admitted to budget lock-ups should clearly indicate that comments made by government officials or ministerial staff will be made on a background-only basis -- and not for attribution.
• DFAIT should provide more training to managers and employees on the handling and protection of sensitive material.

The Privy Council's investigation included interviews of nine Prime Minister's Office officials, including Brodie; seven Privy Council Office officials; one official from DFAIT headquarters; 12 officials from the Embassy in Washington, including Wilson; four officials from the Consulate General in Chicago; and three officials from the Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The probe also involved a review of logs of telephone calls placed by officials of interest from their office and cellular phones from February 8 to March 3, inclusive.

Similarly, the investigation examined transmission logs from fax machines used by officials of interest.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office issued a statement Friday afternoon saying it has accepted all the recommendations from the report.