OTTAWA 鈥� Many questions remain despite MP Raj Grewal breaking his silence about his gambling debts and political future over the weekend, opposition MPs said Sunday on CTV鈥檚 Question Period.
鈥淔or all of the allegations that are now swirling around this MP, I mean, it is difficult to understand the truth from fiction and how this got this far, and nobody seems to have known anything about it in the Prime Minister鈥檚 Office,鈥� said NDP MP Nathan Cullen. 鈥淭he story hasn't been consistent since the start.鈥�
In a statement and in an 11-minute video posted to Facebook late Friday night, Grewal spoke publicly for the first time since his stated resignation for 鈥減ersonal and medical reasons鈥� began unravelling more than a week ago.
he has repaid millions in gambling debts and would be leaving the Liberal caucus but staying on as the MP for Brampton East, as he seeks treatment for his addiction.
鈥淥ver a 3 year period, I accumulated personal debt in the millions of dollars. Like many addicts and people suffering from mental health issues, I started to personally borrow money solely from friends and family to continue to gamble,鈥� Grewal said.
鈥淚 want to make it clear, that every single personal loan made to me was by cheque. Everybody has been paid back, and every loan and repayment is transparent and traceable. This has nothing to do at all with anything sinister except to feed my own addiction.鈥�
In the Friday night statement Grewal said he told the Prime Minister鈥檚 Office about his financial issues and gambling problem days before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau became aware of it.
鈥淣ot only are there are a number of questions about Mr. Grewal, the Prime Minister's Office handling of this in fact misleading MPs several occasions causes a lot of concern,鈥� Conservative MP Erin O鈥橳oole said.
鈥淭hey've never been forthright about what's going on. My assumption is they knew several months ago that there was this large debt, that there were potentially investigations, yet we鈥檝e had to push for any information and the story keeps changing,鈥� said O鈥橳oole.
Hard to believe PMO didn't know more, earlier: Fadden
Also on CTV鈥檚 Question Period, Trudeau鈥檚 former national security adviser questioned how it could be possible that the PMO was not aware earlier of Grewal鈥檚 troubles.
鈥淎ll of the PMOs that I鈥檝e had anything to do with have been very, very effective at knowing what their MPs are up to. It's one of their jobs, so I find it difficult to believe that they would not be aware it was a problem,鈥� said Richard Fadden, who was the former national security adviser to both Trudeau and former Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper.
鈥淣ow, whether they told the PM or not is another issue. To say that nobody in the PMO knew about this I have a great deal of difficulty believing it,鈥� Fadden said.
Fadden questioned whether Grewal鈥檚 debts could have compromised his work as an MP, and wondered how Grewal鈥檚 activities went unnoticed by top Liberal officials if the rookie frequented an Ottawa-area casino to the extent that has been alluded to.
Grewal鈥檚 home away from home was the Hilton hotel in Gatineau, staying there when he was in Ottawa for work. Often MPs take up long-term occupancies in area hotels while in Parliament. In Grewal鈥檚 case, the hotel was 鈥渃oincidentally鈥濃�攁s Grewal put it in his statement鈥� interconnected to the Lac Leamy casino. It is here that Grewal says his gambling problem escalated.
Cullen also raised the prospect of Grewal鈥檚 debt leaving him vulnerable to influence, and questioned whether part of Grewal鈥檚 decision to stay on as an MP was because as a member of Parliament he is afforded certain protections, including making it difficult to be subpoenaed.
鈥淗ow could he owe millions of dollars two weeks ago to friends and family and suddenly not owe millions of dollars, on an MP salary? Where did the money come from?鈥� Cullen said.
MPs are paid an annual base salary of $172,700.
Timeline of Grewal, PMO statements
As part of the message, Grewal said he first notified the PMO about his gambling addiction on Nov. 19.
The issue first became public on Nov. 22, when the Brampton East MP that he would be resigning his seat citing 鈥減ersonal and medical reasons.鈥�
That same day that he learned on Nov. 21 that Grewal was facing 鈥渟erious personal challenges,鈥� and that while it may have been a tough decision, it was the right one. 鈥淚 hope he receives the support he needs,鈥� Trudeau said.
The PMO then released a statement on Nov. 23, revealing that Grewal would seek treatment for a gambling addiction that had led him to rack up "significant personal debts." As part of that statement, the PMO said that they were not aware of any police investigation related to Grewal's gambling, but that they are aware the RCMP made inquiries related to the ethics commissioner鈥檚 investigation into Grewal potentially being in a conflict of interest for inviting a business associate to events during the prime minister's trip to India. Commissioner Mario Dion has not yet issued his report or findings on the matter. Because Grewal remains an MP this probe is expected to continue.
Over the course of last week, through a series of news stories from The Globe and Mail and others, more details emerged about Grewal鈥檚 gambling and personal finances.
Throughout opposition questions, the government has maintained that 鈥渋t was last week that the member informed us that he was addressing certain challenges,鈥� as Government House Leader Bardish Chagger said during question period on Friday.
As reported by the Canadian Press, Trudeau said on Saturday during a news conference in Buenos Aires, that when his office learned about the India trip related RCMP inquiries, they had no knowledge of any connection to a gambling problem.
He also acknowledged that his office became aware and did not inform him immediately about Grewal鈥檚 current troubles. Tracking with Grewal鈥檚 stated timeline, Trudeau said he was then told 鈥渨ithin a day or so.鈥�
Defending the government鈥檚 handling of the situation, Liberal MP Marco Mendicino said that while he couldn鈥檛 speak to why Grewal has decided not to step down, when he first revealed his issues to the highest office in Ottawa, 鈥渋t was on the expectation that [his resignation] would be occurring imminently.鈥�
鈥淟et me just say that we should not gloss over the fact that this is indeed a difficult subject. We all know someone who suffers from personal mental health issues, and we should be hoping that he gets the support and the treatment so that he can get better,鈥� Mendicino said.
Out of caucus, still an MP
In a tweet on Saturday, Chief Government Whip Mark Holland said that he confirmed in writing to the House of Commons Speaker that Grewal was out of the Liberal caucus. His now reflects this and his seat in the Chamber has been moved.
Saying he first announced his 鈥渋ll advised鈥� intention to resign in a 鈥渉ighly emotional state,鈥� Grewal has decided to take a leave of absence to focus on his recovery and will be making a 鈥渇inal decision鈥� about his political future before Parliament resumes in late January 2019.
He also sought to explain what he classified as 鈥渉alf truths鈥� about his work on the House of Commons Finance Committee鈥攚hich raised eyebrows because of the nature of the questions he was posing to top finance and security officials about money laundering鈥攁nd the reason why he was removed in September from the high-ranking committee, to the House Health Committee.
In the statement, Grewal made no mention of any reported police investigations into his behaviour, investigations that CTV News has not independently verified.
