'My name will be cleared,' Byrne predicts

A politician who was forced to resign his cabinet post in Newfoundland and Labrador amid a spectacular spending scandal says he still knows nothing of substance about the allegations against him.

Ed Byrne, who was forced to step down as natural resources minister in June, was accompanied by his lawyer and a communications consultant as hetoured St. John's media outlets Thursday.

He was making his first publiccomments on the scandal in the five months since the provincial auditor general reported thatevidence indicated Byrne was paid $326,000 in constituency allowances— about 10 times what he was entitled to receive— over a two-year period.

On Thursday, Byrne offered little detail and no explanation for his role in the matter. He saidhe remains in the dark about the investigations— including a police probe that opened in the summer — followingthe auditor's allegations that about $1 million in variousconstituency allowances were misspent.

"I believe that when it does conclude itself, my name will be cleared," Byrne, 43, told CBC News on Thursday.

"Literally hundreds— if not thousands— of documents would have passed over my desk in the timeframe that's in question."

Byrne was forced toresign as cabinet ministerafter Auditor General John Noseworthy tendered the first of a series of reports that rocked Newfoundland and Labrador political circles.

He said he has not been able to see the detailed evidence that Noseworthy collected, which prompted a Royal Newfoundland Constabulary investigation that is still underway.

"I have no information which I can speak about in detail," said Byrne. "I have no more information that's been provided to me than that's been provided to the public."

Sets media agenda

Byrne's decision to give a series of one-on-one media interviews comes just days before the opening of the house of assembly's fall sitting.

Had Byrne not chosen to set his own media agenda, he almost certainly would have faced a gauntlet of journalists on Monday.

Byrne said Thursday that while he has kept a low profile, he has been busy working on constituency issues for his St. John's-area district of Kilbride. He has held the seat since 1993.

"You work your way through it as tough as it may be. You can't go hide away— that's not the answer, either," Byrne said. "I certainly don't want to take away from the premier's agenda or government's agenda on Monday."

Asked whether constituency allowance payments, which are intended to can be used for running an office and promotional materials, wound up in his own bank account, Byrne said that typically happens in politics.

"They certainly wouldn't go under my pillow," he said, although he reiterated he did not have details on Noseworthy's findings.

Byrne's resignation came as a shock, particularly within government offices.

A former leader of the Progressive Conservatives, Byrne stepped down in 2001 to clear the way for Danny Williams to take over the party's reins.

Williams led the party to victory in the 2003 election, with Byrne then serving as a top lieutenant in cabinet. As government house leader, he sat directly next to Williams in the legislature.

Scandal crossed party lines

The audit scandal, though, quickly widened well beyond the Progressive Conservative party.

Within weeks of Byrne's resignation, three other politicians— New Democratic MHA Randy Collins, Liberal Wally Andersen and former Liberal Jim Walsh— were identified in Noseworthy's reports. Cumulatively, Noseworthy estimated, about $1 million of constituency allowances were inappropriately spent.

Noseworthy also found that about $2.6 million was spent from the legislature's accounts on fridge magnets, trinkets, lapel pins and other memorabilia, and not always with evidence that the materials ever existed.

Among other things, the audits found that taxpayers had paid $900 each for gold rings that had evidently been ordered for members of the house of assembly, although few MHAs have acknowledged ever receiving one.

Bill Murray, the former director of financial operations at the legislature, was suspended as Noseworthy's investigations continued.

After delivering his initial reports, Noseworthy was asked to broaden his investigation to include how constituency allowances were spent as far back as 1989.

As well, Derek Green— the chief justice of the Newfoundland Supreme Court's trial division— is reviewing whether the constituency allowance system itself needs to be overhauled.

Williams has refused to call for a public inquiry into the scandal, saying that it would be inappropriate while the other investigations continue.