Canada will need to move quickly to reassure allies that no sensitive information was leaked in the wake of the Maxime Bernier affair, according to experts on international relations.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced late Monday evening that he had accepted the foreign affairs minister's resignation after Bernier told him about a possible security breach. Harper did not offer many details.
But The Canadian Press reported Bernier may have left classified documents related to April's NATO summit in Bucharest at an ex-girlfriend's home.
"I hope (Harper) has made a phone call to (U.S.) President (George) Bush already to explain what he's doing to ensure that any of this information will not undermine our allies' interest," University of British Columbia political scientist Michael Byers told CTV Newsnet.
"Whether this will stick to Canadian politics, I don't know. But it certainly sticks to Canada's reputation abroad and our ability to make this happen," he said.
Byers said there are many questions that still need to be answered. He said investigators need to find out if documents and briefing notes that may have been compromised undermined the safety and security of Canadians abroad, including soldiers in Afghanistan.
"One has to remember that the foreign affairs minister has important responsibilities with respect to our Afghan mission -- and that Afghanistan has 93 per cent of the world's heroin and therefore has very, very close links with organized crime," Byers said.
A former member of Canada's spy agency said he also believes that there may be international repercussions to the events that led to Bernier's resignation.
Michel Juneau-Katsuya, a former CSIS agent, said because Bernier received sensitive documents from other governments, "what's really important (is) that other governments abroad, our partners, construe that the information they share with us is protected."
He said investigators will now need to take a close look at individuals who may have seen the documents. He said they will also need to know if the information was shared with other people.
Juneau-Katsuya said the possibility of a breach does not necessarily mean a law was broken. He said investigators will need to determine what may have been done with the documents to see if any charges could be laid.
If the documents were shared "it could" lead to a criminal investigation, he said.
With files from The Canadian Press
