Defence Minister MacKay faces new questions over controversial helicopter trip in 2010.
OTTAWA — Government officials didn’t want to hold the Ontario media event that prompted Defence Minister Peter MacKay to catch a private ride on a search-and-rescue helicopter from a fishing trip in Newfoundland two years ago.
Internal emails obtained by Postmedia News also raise questions over government assertions that MacKay’s attendance at the news conference in London, Ont., was confirmed only a few days before the event took place.
MacKay has been under fire since it was first revealed that a Cormorant helicopter was called in to pick him up from a private fishing camp and ferry him to Gander airport in July 2010 — at an estimated cost to taxpayers of $16,000.
Critics called for his resignation after accusing him of using military assets for personal reasons when other modes of transportation were available, and then misleading Parliament about the issue.
The new documents will do nothing to quell the controversy, which originates with a decision the minority Harper government made in July 2009 to award a sole-source contract to a defence company in London, Ont., to upgrade the Canadian army’s fleet of light armoured vehicles for more than $1 billion.
MacKay and then-Canadian army commander Andrew Leslie made the announcement at CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick as part of a broader $5-billion plan to purchase new vehicles and upgrade existing ones for the army after Afghanistan.
In March 2010, the London-based company was about to receive a small $34-million contract as part of that larger $1-billion upgrade.
Government officials initially recommended against the news conference in London, saying it was unnecessary. Instead, they suggested simply issuing a press release.
“For your info,” a National Defence communications adviser wrote to her Public Works counter-
A Cormorant helicopter took Peter MacKay from a fishing camp to Gander airport at a cost of about $16,000.
part on March 18, 2010, “the recommendation I passed along here was not to do an event. I believe the ‘announceable’ at this time is that the project is progressing as per the plan, which would not warrant an event.”
“Understood,” the Public Works official replied. “I am recommending a news release only.”
It’s unclear who decided to organize a news conference at the London company’s plant despite these views, or when the decision was made, but the documents show the date of the event was moved twice for unknown reasons — once in April 2010 and again in May 2010.
MacKay, as well as Public Works Minister Rona Ambrose, who is responsible for all federal government purchasing, were scheduled to attend both previous events.
Then on June 25, 2010, the Privy Council Office, the department that provides direct support to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and cabinet, notified Public Works the event was confirmed for July 9, 2010.
The emails show Defence officials were notified on June 28, 2010.
At that point, they began preparing talking points and communications products that were sent to MacKay’s office for approval.
In addition, while the main planning document for the news conference listed local Tory MPs Joe Preston and Ed Holder as “TBC,” or to be confirmed, there is no such designation for MacKay or Ambrose.
Eleven days later, MacKay was hoisted from the ground to a waiting Cormorant before being taken to the Gander airport, where he caught a Challenger jet to London.
After the news conference in London, MacKay used the Challenger to fly to his riding in Nova Scotia to attend a lobster dinner.
The total cost of the helicopter pickup was estimated at $16,000, while the Challenger flights were estimated at about $25,000.
MacKay’s director of communications, Jay Paxton, said in an email Friday that the minister’s attendance at the news conference was only confirmed a few days before the event was to take place.