新华网记者赵青/加拿大总理哈珀26日宣布，加外交部长贝尼耶因“不当处置机密文件”已辞职。
哈珀当天在渥太华国会山举行的一次简短新闻发布会上说，他已经接受了贝尼耶的辞呈。加国际贸易部长埃默森将代行外长职务。
哈珀说，贝尼耶辞职的原因与他的私人生活无关，而是因为他“将机密文件放到了不安全的地方”。
贝尼耶今年45岁，2006年1月当选联邦议员，当年2月任工业部长，2007年8月出任外长。近几周来，贝尼耶因前女友同摩托车黑帮“地狱天使”有牵连而广受反对党诟病。
红颜祸水 加拿大外交部长泄机密引咎辞职
星岛环球网/加拿大总理夏巴26日下午突然举行记者会，宣布外交部长贝尼耶（Maxime Bernier）因为不当处理机密文件而辞职。近几周来，贝尼耶因前女友同摩托车黑帮“地狱天使”有牵连而广受反对党诟病。夏巴表示，国际贸易部长艾民信将接任贝尼耶职务。
贝尼耶在辞职信中写道：“这完全是我的错，我愿意承担全部责任。”他是自从执政保守党政府于2006年1月上台以来，第一位下台的内阁部长。分析认为，贝尼耶的辞职，一方面是前女友与黑道来往，他难脱干系；另一方面是工作表现欠佳，他主动辞职，夏巴自然求之不得。
综合媒体报道，夏巴在记者会中表示，贝尼耶辞职与他前女友无关，而是因为身为内阁部长，未能妥善保管内阁机密。据可靠消息来源称，贝尼耶上周末曾将一份内阁机密资料留在库亚尔的公寓。库亚尔的律师发现这份机密资料后通知外交部，才令此事曝光。
夏巴总理表示，贝尼耶辞职后，遗缺由国际贸易部长艾民信接掌。虽然夏巴在记者会上声称，贝尼耶的辞职与前女友无关，但在时机上似乎甚为巧合。因为库亚尔近日内即将接受一家法语电视台的访问。
媒体披露，贝尼耶的前女友，和黑道有来往，这件事情令他相当尴尬，加上他自己工作表现欠佳，反对党批评他连海地总统是谁都搞不清楚。他上个月到阿富汗劳军的时候，竟然对记者说，坎达哈的省长应该被换掉，这项失格的发言，给他召来强烈批评，这个月初，他和一个嫌犯握手的照片，又上了报，层出不穷的状况，已经使他成为加拿大内阁中最让人头痛的阁员，他自动请辞，应该是让夏巴松了一口气。
45岁的贝尼耶于2007年宣誓就职时，已经与库亚尔来往，当时他们关系良好，外界也把他们视为一对。贝尼耶出外公干时，库亚尔经常陪伴在侧。数月前，两人分手，之后便有传媒爆料，揭露库亚尔以前与电单车党成员的关系。
反对党成员对此大表不满，指责贝尼耶与这样的女人交往，违反了政府的保安守则。不过，贝尼耶辩护，强调自己在传媒报道那些消息之前，从来不知道库亚尔的背景。
各个反对党派对贝尼耶辞职迅速做出反应，指他这样做是必须的，但在整件事件中，仍有很多疑团未解开。自由党党魁古德尔要求政府向公众做出详细交代，究竟有哪些保安环节出现问题？政府打算如何重新建立外交部的威信和声誉？
这场风波未必会随着贝尼耶下台而平息，反而可能会愈闹愈大。预料传媒将不断揭贝尼耶和库亚尔的疮疤。据蒙特利尔报章《Le Devoir》报道，在2005年，库亚尔曾经取得一批有关机场保安的文件。
（上图：贝尼耶与库亚尔去年开始交往，数月前分手，但库亚尔与黑帮“地狱天使”过从甚密，使得贝尼耶遭受反对党和媒体诟病。）
Bernier quits cabinet post over security breach
Foreign affairs minister departs ahead of ex-girlfriend’s TV interview
Last Updated: Monday, May 26, 2008 | 11:04 PM ET
CBC News
Embattled Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier has resigned from cabinet over a security breach involving classified documents, Prime Minister Stephen Harper told reporters on Monday.
The resignation came ahead of Monday night’s airing of a French-language television interview of Bernier’s former girlfriend, Julie Couillard, in which she revealed the minister had left a secret document in her apartment sometime in April that she later returned to Foreign Affairs.
“Maxime came to my house, and the document stayed there,” Couillard said during her interview with private television network TVA, without disclosing the contents of the document.
Harper said he accepted Bernier’s resignation after learning late Sunday that Bernier had inadvertently left the documents in an unsecured location.
“It’s only this error. It’s a very serious error for any minister,” Harper said. “The minister immediately recognized the gravity of that error.”
The prime minister staunchly defended Bernier in recent weeks after he came under fire for his involvement with Couillard, who has been linked to the criminal biker underworld.
“Let me be clear: This is not to do with the minister’s private life,” Harper said Monday. “What matters here is that rules respecting government classified documents were broken. Obviously it was not done on purpose … but it was clearly done and it has to be treated appropriately.”
Harper has asked Trade Minister David Emerson to assume the foreign affairs portfolio on an interim basis, while Heritage Minister Josée Verner will handle the Ministry of La Francophonie, which was also held by Bernier.
Bernier, 45, was elected to the House of Commons in January 2006 to represent the Quebec riding of Beauce and previously served as minister of industry in Harper’s cabinet.
PM ‘has a lot of explaining to do’: Goodale
Bernier has also been in a weakened position in recent weeks since a gaffe in April during a visit to Afghanistan, where he publicly suggested the removal of the governor of Kandahar.
Earlier this month, the federal government was forced to rent a Russian cargo jet to ship helicopters to Burma to deliver aid after Bernier publicly promised the Canadian military’s new C-17 transports, none of which were immediately available, would handle the job.
Montreal newspaper Le Devoir reported Monday that Couillard, who was once married to a biker, is the head of a high-tech firm that has been involved in airport security.
Liberal MP Ralph Goodale said the prime minister “has a lot of explaining to do” after dismissing MPs’ questions on the matter in recent weeks, which he said were always asked in a “respectful and measured tone.”
“The prime minister just swept them all aside and said, ‘There’s no problem here,’ ” Goodale told reporters Monday. “Obviously, tonight he’s been proven incorrect.”
Speaking to reporters after the announcement, Bloc Québécois Leader Gilles Duceppe rejected Harper’s contention that Bernier’s resignation had nothing to do with Couillard’s highly anticipated interview .
Duceppe said many questions remain unanswered, including how “people with very strange pasts” can bid on government contracts for airport security.
NDP Leader Jack Layton said it was about time that Bernier was replaced after committing a “series of incompetencies.”
“It’s been one thing after another and why the prime minister didn’t come forward with more information about this whole sordid mess is something he’s going to have to answer for,” he told reporters.
Former girlfriend was married to Rocker
Le Devoir reported Monday that Couillard’s business specializes in “systems of high security technology” that include security system installations and passenger security.
The information was provided to Le Devoir by a former employee at Couillard’s firm.
Couillard, 38, receives documents regarding airport security, according to the report.
Published reports have referred to court documents that say Couillard once married a member of the Rockers biker gang, and was a potential target of Hells Angels kingpin Maurice (Mom) Boucher while she dated another biker.
Couillard has said she cut off ties with the underworld in 1999, and her romantic involvement with bikers is part of a distant past.
She started dating Bernier before he was sworn in as foreign affairs minister in 2007. They recently split up.
Couillard said her name and reputation have been tarnished because of published reports documenting her past ties, but she is not ashamed of anything.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/05/26/harper.html
