Bernier's mislaid files held foreign policy secrets: report

Former Conservative foreign affairs minister Maxime Bernier is denouncing a Montreal newspaper report that says documents he misplaced last year contained a mine of crucial national security information.

Bernier issued a statement Thursday calling the report in newspaper Le Devoir "derogatory and sensationalist."

The newspaper obtained copies of national security documents Bernier left at his ex-girlfriend's house last year, and reported that they contained highly sensitive information about foreign policy and global efforts to fight terrorism.

The documents were obtained through a federal access to information request.

The gaffe ultimately cost Bernier his cabinet position and catapulted his ex-girlfriend, Julie Couillard, into the public spotlight after she revealed the details in a May 2008 television interview.

Bernier said the Privy Council Office has already investigated the incident and concluded that the material did not pose a risk to national security.

But Liberal foreign affairs critic Bob Rae asked if that's the case, why are many pages of the documents obtained by Le Devoir under Access to Information blacked out.

"The government can't say there was no sensitive information there, and then see that we have a completely redacted document where a lot of the information is not being made available to the public, because it's sensitive.

"You have to decide, is it sensitive or isn't it? And if it isn't sensitive, then why would we have five or six hundred pages with a lot of things blacked out? If we can't read that information, it's clear it's sensitive, and Mr. Bernier should not have left those documents there."

When asked about the media report on Thursday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he believes Bernier's resignation was an adequate response to the breach in security.

"Yes, absolutely, and that is the reason he did resign," Harper told reporters in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont. "That has been over for a year now, that whole situation, and I have no comments to add at this time."

Contained classified 'secret' information

The documents include classified information about NATO's plans to expand operations in the Balkans, Taliban prisoners in Afghanistan, arms control in the Middle East, security in Ukraine, and al-Qaeda's presence in Pakistan.

Some 560 pages provide a detailed and comprehensive overview of Canada's foreign policy strategy, Le Devoir reported Thursday.

The documents include an information booklet marked "secret" prepared for the 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest.

They also include a briefing note for a meeting with Bernier and Afghan Foreign Affairs Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta, where three "key objectives" were under discussion. 

Those objectives were blocked out by federal authorities, when the documents were released to Le Devoir under access to information laws.

Almost every page obtained by the newspaper has large sections blacked out.

The original copies — left at Couillard's house in April 2008 — were not censored.

At the time, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Bernier did not breach national security by leaving the documents behind. Harper indicated the documents included a mix of public and confidential material, and briefing notes for meetings.

Normally, the federal government must respond to access to information requests within 30 days.

In Le Devoir's case, it took a year for the newspaper to receive the requested documents.

They were first sent to the Privy Council Office and the national defence minister's office for approval prior to their release.

The Department of Foreign Affairs, the Liberal party and the Bloc Québécois haven't yet responded to the report.