Vikileaks tweeter faces ethics committee on Parliament Hill

Adam Carroll, the ex-Liberal staffer who was fired after he admitted to setting up the Vikileaks30 Twitter account that spread details of Public Safety Minister Vic Toews’ divorce, was grilled by MPs at a hearing on Parliament Hill Tuesday. Carroll showed no remorse at the ethics committee hearing, saying he opened the account to protest against Bill C-30, legislation trumpeted by Toews that prompted a national outcry over online privacy concerns and the extend of police surveillance powers.

“I felt compelled to urgently bring public attention to the threat that Bill C-30 would impose on our rights and our privacy,” Carroll said, quoted by the Toronto Star. “I took an approach that simply argued that if the minister felt strongly that he should know everything about us, perhaps we should know a little bit more about the man who wants unrestricted access to our information.”

Carroll declined to answer several questions about how affidavits about Toews’ divorce ended up in the hands of the Liberal Party. He also insisted that he acted alone in created the Twitter account. “I was never ordered nor asked to do it. I never discussed my actions with any member of Parliament,” he said, quoted by the Montreal Gazette.

NDP member Charlie Angus eventually called the hearing a “fishing expedition for Mr. Harper’s war room” as Carroll was peppered with questions from Conservative MPs who appeared to try and link the other members of the Liberal Party to the affair. When described by Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro as a “good soldier” who took the fall for the Liberals, Carroll responded by quoting Del Mastro himself: “To use his words: baseless smears, or in the acronym, B.S.”