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Indo-Canadian minister hauled up for visiting company
Transportation Minister Takhar acknowledged that it was a mistake to visit the company - now headed by his wife.
An Indo-Canadian minister, facing allegations that he visited a family-owned company, said here his trip was "an error of judgment".
Ontario Transportation Minister Harinder Takhar spoke out at the news conference last week in an apparent effort to defend his position after Premier Dalton McGuinty accused him of a "lapse of judgment".
Takhar was caught in an awkward situation when the Conservative Party produced photographs of the minister arriving at the Chalmers Group of Companies' head offices in Mississauga and leaving three hours later, some time in April.
As a member of the legislature he is not to have any links to the business.
Takhar acknowledged it was probably a mistake to visit the company - now headed by his wife Balwinder.
But he reiterated that he didn't break any rules and was there only to discuss how to pay for his daughter's university tuition fees. "At no time did we discuss the operation of the business," he said.
Opposition leader John Tory said in a statement June 17 that the effectiveness of McGuinty's leadership must be questioned because of his "failure to personally demand an explanation" from Takhar.
"If I was premier, I would have called in my minister immediately to ask him about this situation ... his [McGuinty's] leadership is in serious question."
The province's integrity commissioner is investigating.
