Saskatchewan Party leader Brad Wall accused the government Wednesday of using "hush money" in the case of a former bureaucrat who was convicted of assaulting two female employees and who recently received $275,000 from the province.

"What [were] the premier and the government trying to hide?" Wall asked as the Murdoch Carriere case dominated the first day of the spring sitting of the legislature.

"Why didn't they want this to go to court? Why won't they explain what happened behind this decision and [why] would [they] rather pay $275,000 of taxpayers' money as hush money to keep something quiet?" Wall continued.

Carriere, 57, received the money from the government in an out-of-court settlement of his lawsuit over the leak of an internal government report dealing with sexual harassment complaints.

When the allegations became public in 2003, the former director of fire management and forest protection in Prince Albert was fired. He sued the government and several newspapers.

Carriere was charged with assault and sexual assault. He was found guilty in February 2006 of two counts of assault and received a six-month suspended sentence. Carriere was found not guilty of two counts of sexual assault.

Wall is demanding a full accounting of the costs and motivations behind the government's decision to settle with Carriere. He said the public is "disgusted" that Carriere got $275,000 in the out-of-court settlement while the nine women who complained of his conduct each received $15,000 compensation.

Pat Atkinson, the minister responsible for the Public Service Commission, said the government settled out of court on its lawyers' suggestion.

"There obviously was the issue of women who had already testified in a criminal proceeding having to testify all over again," Atkinson said. "Based on legal advice, just as the media decided to settle with Mr. Carriere, we settled."

Atkinson said the government advised eight of the nine women about its plans to settle.
The women told the government they weren't happy with the decision, she said.