On Sunday, The Province's Elaine O'Connor cited federal Liberal parliamentarian Blair Wilson's former campaign manager making a number of undocumented allegations against the MP. But, in two-year-old interview with Public Eye, Elizabeth Wood actually denied the truthfulness of one of those allegations.
In The Province, Ms. Wood recounts a meeting between herself, her successor Guillio Vilas, Mr. Wilson and prospective official agent Wayne Rowe during the 2005-06 election. According to the newspaper, "as she left (Mr. Rowe's) office she was asked to get into the van Wilson was driving. While he sat in front, she says, Vilas paid her a month and a half's salary she was owed in cash. She alleges he also asked ‘what else she wanted' before she got out."
But, in a taped interview on January 17, 2006 with Public Eye, Ms. Wood told a somewhat different story. Asked whether an incident similar to the one described in The Province happened, Ms. Wood said "That sounds very skulduggery. No." And questioned if she had ever been presented with an "envelope of money in a van or outside a van or anywhere near a van" Wood responded, "No. No. I was paid by the month by cheque by the party through the riding association. And I was paid $1,000 a month." Ms. Wood hasn't responded to a phone call placed early yesterday morning requesting clarification.
Commenting on Ms. Wood's accusations, Mr. Wilson told The Province, "This is the first time that I have heard anything to this respect at all and it is a complete fabrication and unproven." In an earlier interview with Public Eye, Mr. Vilas also denied the accusations.
Leave a comment