As the spin turns, on the Guergis allegations

The word "credible" appears to have dropped from the government's vocabulary on the Helena Guergis story.

Just yesterday, the prime minister's director of communications, Dimitri Soudas, responded to questions about just what had they asked Ethics Commissioner Mary Dawson to do by saying:

"We received serious and credible allegations. We turned that information over to the RCMP and the Ethics commissioner. We did not provide direction to either the RCMP or the Ethics commissioner".

Today those allegations are just "serious."

Perhaps they're reacting to news that the private investigator who informed the PMO about Guergis' alleged bad behaviour is actually a bankrupt parking lot flatfoot who initially tried to pawn off his supposed intelligence to the Liberal party.

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff was the first to raise questions about the prime minister's judgement on Wednesday.  His MP, Wayne Easter, picked up on that line again today during Question Period. 

Easter asked Transport Minister John Baird why the government was so quick to believe a private investigator, Derrick Snowdy, and the target of his inquiries, a Toronto businessman charged with fraud, Nazim Gillani. 

"Richard Colvin is a diplomat with 20 years of distinguished service to Canada, and remains a high-level employee of this government in perhaps our most important mission, the embassy in Washington.  When Colvin raised seroius allegations, the government said he wasn't credible.  However, when the prime minister got second-hand information from Mr. Gillani, known as Big Daddy G, they fired the status of women minister, booted her from caucus and called in the police.  Why the hypocritical double standard?"

Baird responded:

"Big Daddy G, Mr. speaker? This coming from Big Daddy E? That's outragesous.  I suspect like most members of this place, I had never heard of this individual until the last week.  What did happen, Mr. Speaker, is serious allegations were brought to the prime minister's attention, and what did he do? He referred the matter to the competent authorities. That demonstrates a high ethical standard, that's the right thing to do.

Easter gave it another shot.

"On the one hand, credible, distinguished public servants of stellar service to Canda who bring forward serious allegations against the government are dismissed as not credible.  Yet when evidence comes forward from anonymous sources, possibly connected to the underworld, the prime minister accepts their world as gospel and calls in the police.  Why does the government choose to believe Big Daddy G but calls Richard Colvin a liar?

The parliamentary secretary to the minister of national defence Laurie Hawn answered the question by saying that when allegations are brought forward on any file, whether it's national defence or anything else, "they are investigated thoroughly, they're forwarded to the appropriate authorities and appropriate action is taken."  Hawn says it's what a government "grounded in ethics" does.