Canadian Aide Offers Apology in Parliament

Canadian Defense Minister Erik Nielsen publicly apologized Monday for eavesdropping on Liberal Party caucus meetings in the mid-1960s but dismissed his actions as nothing more than happenstance.

“As a matter of happenstance I was able to know what was said at meetings of the Liberal caucus,” Nielsen said. He said he did not initiate the eavesdropping, which took place during an intensely partisan period of Canadian politics. “I apologize to those who believe proprieties were violated 25 years ago,” Nielsen told Parliament.