Province to probe leak 2nd time: finance minister
Last Updated: Thursday, May 10, 2007 | 4:29 PM CT
CBC News
An investigation into who leaked details of this year's provincial budget to the media has failed to come up with answers, so the government is going to try again.
The March 22 budget introduced a $15 cap on seniors' prescriptions, a post-secondary tuition freeze and a tax holiday for recent grads — details that the Regina Leader-Post reported days earlier.
The government launched an internal investigation to try to find out who leaked the information, but the result, according to Finance Minister Andrew Thomson, was "inconclusive."
Thomson indicated Wednesday he's not pleased and has asked to have the case re-investigated by a government official.
"Having read the report, we simply need a more thorough investigation done," he said.
Thomson said the investigator talked to some employees in the Finance Department, but should do more next time.
"He may want to talk to the reporter involved," Thomson said. "He may want to talk to other members of the legislature and staff within the building."
The deputy minister to the premier, Dan Perrins, who commissioned the original investigation, said the next one will be "considerably more extensive."
The Saskatchewan Party finance critic, Ken Cheveldayoff, said the obvious place to start would be with Thomson and other NDP higher-ups.
"If it didn't come from the minister himself, it came from the premier's office or one of the MLAs," he said. "It's just very surprising that those people weren't interviewed in this sort of loosey-goosey investigation."
Thomson said he'd provide an update later on what the second investigation finds.
