The opposition Conservatives are accusing the Selinger government of covering up information related to the Christine Melnick affair.
The Tories said they sent two freedom of information requests, one in 2012 and one in 2014, about a government resolution on immigration services at the legislature in 2012.
They said the two requests were almost identical, but the responses were very different. They said the second response included information proving Melnick ordered civil servants to invite immigration organizations to the debate, and that that information was not included in the first set of documents.
In an email, a civil servant writes: “As requested by the Minister, please see attached a draft letter of invitation for people and organizations to attend and support the resolution.”
The Conservatives allege the information was first held back and only given to them in the later request because Melnick has since come clean about her role in the event.
Melnick originally denied she made the directive but then changed her story admitting to the province’s ombudsman that she was behind the order.
The premier dumped Melnick from cabinet and later kicked her out of the party after breaking ranks with Selinger.
The province issued a statement responding to the PCs claims information was withheld Friday.
"The email in question should have been included in the 2012 response but was missed in the original search. There was no political direction to hold the email," said the province.
The Conservatives have accused the NDP government of politicizing the civil service over the event.
