Dear Mr. Prime Minister of Canada

I see today that your party is planning a libel suit against the leader of the opposition for two articles on the Liberal party website headlined: “Harper knew of Conservative bribery” and “Harper must come clean about allegations of Conservative Bribery.”

The suit, which also names Liberal Deputy Leader Michael Ignatieff and House Leader Ralph Goodale, takes on the Opposition for saying that Mr. Harper knew Conservative party officials attempted to bribe Mr. Cadman to vote against a Liberal budget in the spring of 2005.

Mr. Cadman's wife, Dona Cadman – who is also a Conservative candidate – and her daughter and son-in-law say the dying MP told them that two men representing the Conservatives approached him in the days before the vote and offered a million-dollar life insurance policy in exchange for his support in bringing down the Liberals.

Are you launching this lawsuit so that, no matter what anyone says about it or asks you about it, you can now reply flatly that you would be remiss to comment on the matter since it is now before the courts?

Are you hoping that this will scare away people from broadcasting further on the 2005 tape recording of you explaining that you knew of an offer made to Chuck Cadman by Conservative Party officials, made with your foreknowledge; where you are on record as having stated that you told them (prior to the meeting) they should "make the case" to Mr. Cadman?

"Of the offer to Chuck," (Tom Zytaruk) quotes Mr. Harper as saying, "it was only to replace financial considerations he might lose due to an election, OK. That's my understanding of what they were talking about.

"I don't know the details," he said. "I can tell you that I had told the individuals - I mean, they wanted to do it - but I told them they were wasting their time. I said Chuck had made up his mind he was going to vote with the Liberals. I knew why, and I respected the decision, but they were just, they were convinced there was, there was financial issues and, there may or may not.

"They were legitimately representing the party," Mr. Harper confirmed. "I said 'Don't press him, I mean, you have this theory that it's, you know, financial insecurity, and you know, just, you know, if that's what you say make the case,' but I said 'Don't press it.' "

By launching this lawsuit, are you thinking people might stop mentioning this out of fear that they may also be eventually named in the suit?

Are you hoping that the sluggish rate of the courts will defuse this until such a time as you have a majority in the HoC, or that the country has forgotten the whole affair?

Are you counting on bullying your way through this crisis?

Is it because you can't deny it without lying through your teeth?

Crafty. (Too crafy by half? We shall see).

Because if we are to believe you (when you say today) that it's not true, then you are either splitting very fine hairs at best, or calling others liars - and presumably, the tape recording to be a forgery. After all, the Liberals didn't make it up; they quoted you from the source, journalist/author Tom Zytaruk; and his publisher, Harbour Press. But you're not suing them, are you? And I notice you chose not to sue Conservative candidate Dona Cadman nor her daughter, Jodi, nor Jodi's husband - who have all corroborated that Chuck Cadman told them in separate instances of the $1 million insurance offer in exchange for his Parliamentary vote - for slander (or not yet?)

Shame on you. The office of the Prime Minister of Canada has been tarnished before, as you were always very willing to point out as Opposition leader yourself. Since becoming PM yourself, you have taken it lower and lower and lower.

How much lower, Mr. Prime Minister? How much?

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