Tories claim Cadman tape 'doctored,' author denies it

Harper says in the motion, filed Wednesday in Ontario Superior Court, that he will suffer "irreparable harm" if the injunction is denied. But the author who recorded the tape denies altering it, and the Liberals noted that Harper hasn't questioned the accuracy of his key quote.

The tape has been at the centre of politically explosive allegations that the Conservatives illegally offered Cadman a life-insurance policy in exchange for his support on a key vote in Parliament in 2005.

In the recording, Harper tells Tom Zytaruk, the author of a book on Cadman, that an offer of some sort was made to the dying Independent MP "to replace financial considerations he might lose due to an election."

Conservative MP James Moore told a news conference Wednesday that two top audio specialists hired by the party analyzed the tape - made in September 2005 - and found it had been altered.

"The forensic evidence is clear. The so-called 'Zytaruk tape' is incomplete. The tape has been doctored, including the insertion of a 'fabricated soundbite,"' Moore said.

However, he and other Tories didn't deny the accuracy of Harper's key quote, nor would they say whether the meaning had been twisted.

Moore also did not say specifically how the tape had been changed or offer any proof that the Liberals knew it was tampered with.

Harper spokesman Dimitri Soudas later said that the tape was altered to make it seem that Harper was talking about an insurance policy when he was actually talking about election expenses.

"The edit at the nine seconds mark (after the word "Dona") creates a question that was never asked!" Soudas said in an e-mail.

"The PM had no knowledge of an insurance policy offer to Chuck. He told that to Dona minutes before the Zytaruk interview. When the PM says he does not know the details, he is not answering a question about the insurance policy for Dona."

Zytaruk, who first released the tape to the media, insisted Wednesday that he never altered the tape.

"One thing that nobody's been able to tell me today or been able to figure out it seems is, are they attacking my original tape or are they attacking something that appeared on somebody's website - the Liberal Party of Canada?" he said.

"I've got the original in a safe and secure place. . . I can't control what's going on people's websites and what they're doing with this tape after it goes out into the digital world.

". . what was on my tape went in verbatim with all the ands, ums, ors and buts because I wanted to be spot-on accurate what Harper had to say and completely non-judgmental. My tape, there's no doctoring or editing."

Zytaruk said he did turn the recorder off and on for "a millisecond" after Harper turned away, then turned back toward him to add a thought.

The Conservatives want to stop the Liberals from using Harper's words against him in campaign ads and linking to them from the party's website.

It's the second court action Harper has filed over the Cadman affair. He's also suing the Liberal party for libel.

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion expressed skepticism about the Tory claims and asked why Harper doesn't simply explain what he meant by his words on the tape.

"You and me in this situation would have said: 'Hey, you pretend I said that, it's not true, I didn't say so, this is what I said, I don't believe this tape,"' Dion said.

"But Harper never explained himself."

Dion said the move smacks of desperation and suggested the suit is an effort to divert attention from the embarrassing Maxime Bernier affair.

Audio experts Alan Gough of Stratford, Ont., and Tom Owen of Colonia, N.J., separately examined copies of the tape and reached similar conclusions.

"The tape has been edited and doctored and does not represent the entire conversation that took place," Owen said in a sworn statement filed with the Ontario Superior Court.

"This is not a continuous recording of one conversation," Gough said in his affidavit.

"The interruptions of words, changes of background ambience and changes of frequency response indicate that this may be three separate recordings."

The tape sparked a furor when it was released in March. Dona Cadman, widow of the late MP, said the Tories had offered her dying husband a $1-million insurance policy in return for his vote against the Liberals at a critical juncture. He rejected the offer angrily, she said. He went on to support the Liberals.

Tory officials and Harper have denied the $1-million offer. The prime minister has said repeatedly that Cadman was only offered the chance to return to the Conservative party and get financial help in his re-election bid.

"The financial matters I spoke about during my interview with Mr. Zytaruk only related to normal nomination and election campaign expenses that would be incurred by any candidate," Harper said in an affidavit filed with the injunction request.

Independent MPs, he said, cannot raise money between elections nor can they carry forward surpluses from a previous campaign.

When the tape first surfaced, the Liberals accused Harper of trying to bribe an MP. But the RCMP investigated and said they found no evidence of a crime.

Harper sued the Liberal party for libel over allegations he knew about a bribery attempt.

Cadman was a popular B.C. MP who entered the Commons as a Reformer in 1997. The affable, bearded, ponytailed politician lost the Conservative nomination in the 2004 election and ran and won as an independent.

He died just months after the crucial spring 2005 vote.