SHE SAYS:
- Julie Couillard says her tell-all memoir painting a scathing portrait of ex-boyfriend Maxime Bernier is about re-establishing her credibility, but adds she isn't surprised the former cabinet minister is calling her allegations crazy.
- Couillard's book, entitled My Story, depicts the Quebec Conservative MP and disgraced foreign affairs minister as a vain, superficial womanizer who frequently badmouthed Prime Minister Stephen Harper's physical appearance and "control freak" leadership style.
- In an interview this week with the CBC's Evan Solomon to be aired on Sunday, Couillard said it was her editor's decision to release her book in the middle of the Oct. 14 federal election campaign.
- Her book is not nearly as harsh as what she experienced when Bernier failed to defend her during last spring's media frenzy over misplaced classified briefing documents.
- Bernier resigned from cabinet in May only hours before Couillard described in a television interview how he had left documents for a NATO summit at her Montreal home. The two had recently ended their relationship.
- During that time, Couillard was described in the media and by opposition parties as a biker chick, a stripper and a possible national security threat.
- In the book, she describes how Bernier, who didn't own a laptop, frequently used her home computer to download and print files and turned her house into a "second office."
- She said that on one instance, Bernier asked her to throw out a document because his briefcase was too full, but told her to wait until trash day because the papers were confidential.
- In the book, Couillard details how Bernier was aware of her past relationship with Gilles Giguère, a well-known Montreal crime figure who was gunned down in 1996 after becoming a police informer, as well as a turbulent two-year marriage to Stéphane Sirois, who admitted to being an enforcer for the Rockers, a Hells Angels puppet club.
- Couillard also claims Bernier often criticized Conservative Leader Stephen Harper's weight and choice of clothing.
- She says Bernier thought Harper had a bad sense of style, was fat and unhealthy and drank too much Pepsi.
- She says Bernier didn't think Harper would survive his first term as PM and that Bernier thought he'd replace him as Tory leader.
- Also, Couillard says Bernier was happy about their relationship because some of his colleagues thought he was gay.
HE SAYS:
- In a statement Wednesday, Bernier who is running for re-election, said the claims in the book were "completely ridiculous."
- Bernier has denied any knowledge of Couillard's past, saying he learned about it after they broke up.
- In an interview with a local radio station in his home riding on Wednesday, Bernier dismissed Couillard's allegations as "gossipy delusions," saying his former girlfriend was only interested in increasing book sales.
- "We can see she's a woman who is very angry," he said. "She's a woman who is settling her accounts."
- Last April, during a trip to Afghanistan, he suggested Afghan President Hamid Karzai should fire the governor of Kandahar, where most of Canada's troops are based.
- He later backed away from his comment, saying, "Afghanistan is a sovereign state that makes its own decisions about government appointments."
- A month later, he promised to make one of Canada's C-17 military cargo aircraft available to transport aid to Burma's cyclone survivors. But none of the four aircraft were available and the government had to spend $1 million to rent a Russian cargo aircraft.
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Couillard's book will hit store shelves in English and French on Oct. 6 for $29.99. What interested me the most, is how and why a former Foreign Minister who apparently didn't take his job seriously, had put the national security at risk then forced to resign, could somehow running for re-election and has won the support of the Prime Minister.
References:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/story/2008/10/02/couillard.html
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20081001/bernier_couillard_081001/20081001?hub=TopStories
http://www.thestar.com/article/507473
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