Stephen Harper: Carl Vallee

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty Dept: Carl Vallee, a spokesman for Stephen Harper, declined to say Thursday whether the Prime Minister's Office continues to endorse the rules on ministerial responsibility, according to Montreal Gazette. The controversy was sparked by news that Flaherty had urged the federal broadcast regulator to grant a radio licence to a company in his Ontario riding even though the rules posted on Harper's website forbid ministers from trying to influence the decisions of administrative tribunals and oTTAWA - The Conservative government would not say whether it stands by its own accountability rules for members of cabinet after Finance Minister Jim Flaherty was accused of breaching the guidelines. Opposition MPs roundly criticized the government for failing to live up to its own standards of acceptable behaviour. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.