Leading up to yesterdays Democratic Primary Election, candidate Barack Obama tried to distance himself from Hillary Clinton by publicly taking a very pro American stand on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). He felt this stand would endear himself to workers in the unemployment ridden state of Ohio. In the beginning it worked. Obama made up a 24 point deficit. But the Clinton campaign then reported the leaking, by other parties, of a private memo and conversation Obama had with Canadian officials.
That memo appeared on the surface to contradict his pro American stance. This leak stalled his momentum and may be the reason Hillary won the state.
Jack Layton, leader of the opposition New Democratic Party in Canada, said the leak had damaged relations with the United States, and asked Prime Minister Stephen Harper to call in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
OTTAWA (Reuters) - The leak of information about Barack Obama's position on the North American Free Trade Agreement was "blatantly unfair" to his campaign, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Wednesday.
Harper said the government was mounting an "internal security investigation" to find out who leaked the information, which suggested Obama's campaign had said not to pay too much attention to his protectionist rhetoric on NAFTA.
"This kind of leaking of information is completely unacceptable and in fact ... it may well be illegal," the prime minister told Parliament.
Stephen Randall of REUTERS has even more of this story.