N.S. Tories, police attempt damage control in fallout from minister's crash

A Nova Scotia cabinet minister who quit his post after being accused by witnesses of leaving the scene of an accident is now taking a leave of absence from the Conservative caucus. Ernie Fage, the former human resources minister, announced his decision Monday, just hours after Premier Rodney MacDonald and police made attempts at damage control over the incident that has shaken the province's political and justice scenes. "It allows me time to deal with my personal issue that is under investigation at this time," Fage told reporters about his decision. Fage, a farmer from central Nova Scotia, rose to national prominence last week when photographs taken on a cellphone camera showed him driving away from the scene of the Nov. 24 collision in downtown Halifax. Three witnesses told The Canadian Press they smelled liquor on his breath. No charges have been laid and none of the allegations has been proven. "I'm very disappointed in how this has unfolded and quite frankly not pleased at all," MacDonald said shortly before Fage's announcement. Twenty-two seconds of grainy video shot by photographer David Gamble - who happened on the scene - showed Fage back at his apartment building, not responding as he's asked, "Why did you leave the scene?" Within hours of last Thursday's broadcast of the images, Fage was out of his cabinet post. As the legislature resumed Monday, MacDonald quickly distanced himself politically from his former minister. Last week, MacDonald claimed that he only learned complete details of the Fage car crash when the media reports aired. This, despite being told about the accident by his chief of staff on Dec. 4 and again by Fage on Dec. 16. "I wish he had given me more detail and he should have given me more detail," MacDonald said. "There should have been more information shared with me, but that wasn't the case." Fage denied keeping anything from his boss. "What I revealed to the premier was what happened," he said. "There was an auto accident and I responded appropriately by contacting police and co-operating with them fully." MacDonald brought Fage back into cabinet following the June election, after the Amherst, N.S., politician supported the youthful leader in his surprise victory at the Tory leadership convention. Fage was a controversial choice, having resigned his economic development portfolio under former premier John Hamm. He'd failed to tell cabinet colleagues that a potato farm slated to receive a $250,000 government loan rented land from his family. Frank Beazley, Halifax's chief of police, held his first news conference since the story broke to defend his department's handling of the investigation. Beazley said it took five days after the accident for the provincial Transportation Department to identify Fage as the driver of the government-leased vehicle. Asked why there was a delay, Beazley said: "That's a question to be asked of the department." "We called on several occasions. We were referred from one department to another department. It took us a long period of time to do that." Two days after Fage was identified by the department, he personally called to report the accident to police. Under the law, drivers involved in auto crashes that cause more than $1,000 damage must exchange insurance and licence information with the other driver involved and then report the collision to police within 24 hours. Fage waited a week. Beazley said police weren't in any way attempting to delay their investigation or cover anything up. "This is a property damage, car accident investigation that would take under normal circumstances six weeks to two months to do," he said. Delays created problems from the moment of the collision. It took an hour and 40 minutes for police to arrive at the scene after the first calls were received. Beazley himself noted that police normally attempt to administer a breathalyzer within two hours of accidents like this. He said without that evidence, it's hard to pursue impaired driving charges. "I would say that's a long stretch. . . . It would be very difficult to prove." A passenger in the struck car described the speed of the police response as poor. "In this case I think they bungled it," Steve Bezanson said Monday. "It seems very unusual that it took an hour and 40 minutes to come three blocks" from the police station. Asked why it took four weeks for the police to eventually contact the photographer who had the images and video, Beazley said delays are normal. "He (the officer) was following it through. He was making appointments. He was waiting for people to get back to him with information. It started coming together after Christmas." The witnesses to the accident were asked to give statements again Monday. Fage said he's paid for the damage to his vehicle. "I've looked after the expense for repairing and I really can't comment any more than that."