A 7th Canadian Cabinet Member Quits Under Fire
Minister of State Roche LaSalle has become the seventh member of the Cabinet of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney to resign under pressure from allegations of wrongdoing.
Mulroney said Friday that on Thursday night he accepted the resignation of LaSalle amid allegations of influence-peddling. A police investigation is under way into reports that businessmen paid $5,000 each to attend in 1985 a party with LaSalle in the belief they would be rewarded with government contracts.
The Mulroney government has been rocked by a string of allegations of corruption and continued erosion of public support since winning a landslide victory in the 1984 general election.
A new public opinion poll published Friday showed the Progressive Conservative Party with 22% of public support, the lowest ever recorded for a government in power.
Mulroney is scheduled to announce a Cabinet shuffle next week in an attempt to regain public confidence.
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