Gallant government sends Larry's Gulch report to prosecutor

The Brian Gallant government is referring the information commissioner's report to the public prosecution office for a decision on whether charges are necessary in the Larry's Gulch document-altering scandal.

Liberal cabinet minister Donald Arseneaulttold reporters the public prosecution office, whichoperates at arm's length from government, will decide if charges should be recommended.

He said the prosecutors will decide if charges should be pursued and not elected politicians.

Arseneault said he does not buy the commissioner's conclusion that two former deputy ministers did not realize the severity of their actions.

"They broke the law," Arseneault said.

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"Bureaucrats told these deputy ministers under the Conservative government that this was against the law to alter these documents, against the law to falsify documents," Arseneault said.

"Obviously this is a very serious matter."

Bertrand's report says civil servants in the Department of Tourism raised questions about Greg Lutes, the department's deputy minister at the time, getting involved with seeking a letter from NB Liquor to remove the information about the 2013 fishing trip from the documents.

Bertrand told CBC on Monday that the altering of the list was at the "low end of wrongdoing" and that DarellFowlie, the deputy minister of communications in the premier's office,and Lutes didn't fully appreciate the seriousness of what they were doing.

Arseneault said he doesn't believe that.

"They knew very well what they were doing. They've been around for a very long time. I doubt very much that they didn't know what they were doing."

The request to look at the case will go to the Office of Public Prosecutions, which operates in the Office of the AttorneyGeneral. Its decisions are made at arm's-length from elected officials.

Arseneault raised the prospect of prosecutors referring the case to the police, though violating the access to information act is not a Criminal Code offence.

Arseneault wouldn't elaborate on why the police might get involved. "We'll let them decide that," he said.l

No one from the PC Party would comment on the government's decision.

Spokesperson Bob Fowlie referred reporters to a written statement last week by Rothesay MLA Ted Flemming, a former attorney-general.

In that statement, Flemming said the Larry's Gulch controversy was "a carefully crafted and timed smokescreen" to distract New Brunswickers from a recent auditor-general report on the Atcon affair, which criticized a previous Liberal government for losing $70 million in loan guarantees.

Arseneault responded to that Tuesday, saying the Tories are ignoring Bertrand's explicit conclusion that Fowlie and Lutes broke the law.

"It's appalling for Ted Flemming, a lawyer himself who should know better, to toss this report aside and say it's not important."

Bertrand'sreport concluded Lutes and Fowlie were acting on a request by Murray Guy, an editor at theMonctonTimes & Transcript,who wanted some of his personal information removed from the list before it was made public by the Department of Tourism, Heritage and Culture under a right to information request in March of 2014.

On Monday,Bertranddefended her decision not to recommendcharges be pursued against the two senior public servants who altered the 2013 guest list to the Larry's Gulch fishing lodge.

Kevin Lacey, the Atlantic director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, said on Twitter the provincial government is making the right call in having the report reviewed.

"[The Gallant government is] doing the right thing to clear the air. Possible doctoring of documents a serious issue," he tweeted.