TORONTO (AP) - Canada’s embattled foreign minister resigned for leaving classified documents in a nonsecure location, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced yesterday, calling the breach “a serious error.”
Mr. Harper said that he accepted the resignation of Maxime Bernier, who came under fire in recent weeks amid reports that a former girlfriend had previous relationships with Hells Angels motorcycle gang members.
“Mr. Bernier has learned and informed me that he left classified documents in a nonsecure location. This is a serious error,” Mr. Harper said.
He said that Mr. Bernier’s controversial relationship with the woman was not a factor in the resignation, but it was announced as Mr. Bernier’s former girlfriend, Julie Couillard, was preparing to go on a French-language television station to say that Mr. Bernier had been careless with classified documents.
“It’s only this error. It’s a very serious mistake for any minister. … The minister has immediately acknowledged the gravity of this mistake,” Mr. Harper said.
The documents were left at a private residence earlier this spring, Mr. Harper said. He did not say what the documents were or whether they were shared with others.
Mr. Bernier wrote in a letter of resignation that he asked the Foreign Affairs Department to conduct a thorough review of the situation.
“The security breach that occurred was my fault and my fault alone, and I take full responsibility for my actions,” Mr. Bernier wrote.
Mr. Harper said that David Emerson, the international trade minister, will take over as interim foreign minister.
Just hours before Mr. Bernier quit, Mr. Harper had dismissed the affair.
“I have no intention to comment on a minister’s former girlfriend,” Mr. Harper said earlier in the day. “I don’t take this subject seriously.”
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