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Written by Tobi Cohen, THE CANADIAN PRESS
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Wednesday, 01 October 2008 |
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MONTREAL - Attempts by ex-foreign affairs minister Maxime Bernier to discredit a new tell-all book that describes him as an egotistical womanizer who lacks professionalism come as no surprise to the author, his former girlfriend Julie Couillard.
Couillard said his attitude is no different than it was when the "media circus" erupted last summer over her ties to biker gangs and his carelessness with government documents.
While this time he's sought to "discredit" and "ridicule" her in comments to local media in his home riding of Beauce, his earlier silence and failure to come to her defence had the same effect, she said.
"By his silence and inaction during the whole media circus that happened to me... it was like he endorsed it," she said in an interview with The Canadian Press on Wednesday.
"I was waiting for this."
Couillard, who grabbed headlines last year when she arrived at Bernier's swearing-in ceremony at Rideau Hall in a revealing dress, was far more modestly dressed for her interview Wednesday, wearing a fitted white shirt.
After details about "My Story," which is days away from hitting bookstores, were leaked Wednesday, Bernier immediately attacked Couillard's credibility, calling the book a marketing ploy and noting an RCMP investigation involving her is underway.
But Couillard said she has yet to be interviewed by the RCMP in relation to her work with real-estate firm Kevlar Group, which has been accused of using her political connections to win a contract to sell land to the government to construct a federal office building in Quebec.
The firm retained her as a negotiator when it learned she was friends with Bernard Cote, a friend of Michael Fortier who was then the public works minister and responsible for such contracts.
While she discussed the file with Bernier, Couillard maintains it actually ended up working against Kevlar in its bid for the contract.
In her book, Couillard said Bernier offered to help her obtain a commissioner position with the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada.
She also admitted Wednesday that her mother, Diane Bellemare, was appointed to the Employment Insurance Board of Referees last year following discussions she had with Cote.
But she said the process that eventually led to her mother's appointment began long before she new Bernier and that such posts are well known as temporary partisan positions.
"It's one day a week.," she said "It's a job for the semi-retired. It's not a job where you make $100,000. It's a three-year contract. They're known partisan posts."
Couillard, who hasn't worked in five months, said many lies were spread about her during the so-called "Couillard-Bernier Affair" and that she hopes her book will set the record straight.
"I'm aware that there are people who won't believe me," Couillard said.
"All I can do is publish my truth so people know that it's there and that those who are open to it will be able to see the other side... and form their own opinion."
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