Harper takes the wrong the standm as did Raitt

A YOUNG Nova Scotia staffer lost her job on Wednesday as the opposition blamed her boss — Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt — and said she should have taken responsibility.

Jasmine MacDonnell, a 26-year-old from Halifax, offered her resignation after CTV revealed that secret documents concerning Canada’s nuclear industry were left behind after an interview at the station’s Ottawa studio last week.

In question period, opposition politicians attacked Ms. Raitt, who has been under pressure for the government’s handling of the shutdown of the Chalk River nuclear reactor, which has led to a shortage of radioactive isotopes used for cancer testing.

"Corrective action has been taken," said Ms. Raitt,

NDP Deputy Leader Thomas Mulcair said the government was treating Ms. MacDonnell like a scapegoat, and he accused Mr. Harper of applying a double standard, since he fired Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier for leaving secret documents at his girlfriend’s place.

"There’s no way she can get away with blaming junior staffers, as she’s trying to do here," he said.

Mr. Mulcair pointed to the Conservative government’s guide for ministers, which says the prime minister "holds ministers . . . personally accountable for the security of their staff and offices as well as . . . cabinet confidences and other sensitive information in their custody."

In Quebec City for a funding announcement, Mr. Harper put the blame squarely on Ms. MacDonnell’s shoulders.