BTC: Ah, memories

Ms. Delacourt notes the ongoing discussion, in the United States at least, of the NAFTA leak and its effect on the campaign of Barack Obama. This should, if nothing else, jog the memory.

Stephen Harper, Mar. 4: "Mr. Speaker, the leak of this particular document is not only regrettable as the Canadian embassy in the United States has already said. It is completely unacceptable to this government and we will do our best to find out who did it."

Stephen Harper, Mar. 5: "I can say that the Clerk of the Privy Council, obviously working with the Department of Foreign Affairs, is bringing in an internal security investigation on this. Based on what they find and based on legal advice, we will take any action that is necessary to get to the bottom of this matter."

Stephen Harper, Mar. 6: "I will not comment on rumours. I have said that we are doing a thorough internal investigation of this, led by the Clerk of the Privy Council. I will take whatever steps the Clerk of the Privy Council believes are necessary subsequent to that investigation."

Toronto Star, Apr. 9: "Opposition MPs are demanding to know why Prime Minister Stephen Harper, after promising an internal probe of the high-level leaks that led to a blow-up in Canada-U.S. relations, has outsourced the investigation to a private security organization."

For those of you keeping score at home, it’s been 57 days since the Prime Minister promised to do his best to find the real leaker, 56 days since he announced a formal investigation, and at least a few weeks since the Clerk of the Privy Council turned the investigation over to a private firm.