The documents Maxime Bernier left behind at his ex-girlfriend's home contained significant state secrets, a Montreal newspaper is reporting.
Le Devoir detailed the documents in a story called "A mine of crucial information for the enemy."
The misplaced documents cost Bernier the high-profile position of foreign minister in the Conservative cabinet in May of 2008. He left them at the home of Julie Couillard, who had links to organized crime in Quebec, a month earlier.
At the time, the government said little of what the documents contained other than they were briefing papers for a NATO summit.
Le Devoir says the documents numbered more than 500 pages and contained sensitive information about missile-defence, Afghan prisoners, arms control for the Middle East conflict and NATO's expansion into the Balkans.
The newspaper gathered the documents, marked secret, through an Access to Information request. Much of the documents were blacked out.
Other tidbits were Canada foreign policy positions on Iranian nuclear power and the Dalai Lama.
Le Devoir said while the government has 30 days to respond to Access to Information requests, it took more than a year for the documents to be handed over.
Bernier, once thought to be rising star for the Conservatives, has remained a backbencher since losing his post. However, his popularity in his home riding of Beauce, Que., hasn't suffered from the scandal.
He won his riding by a landslide in the 2008 federal election.
