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OTTAWA — Questions of ethics and abuse of power were being raised Tuesday after two letters written by International Development Minister Julian Fantino that were critical of the opposition were found to have been posted on a taxpayer-funded website.

Fantino’s office says the letters were posted to the CIDA website in error. They were later removed.

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But at least one opposition member said he didn’t believe the explanation and was considering filing a complaint to the Ethics Commissioner.

“This was knowingly done,” Liberal MP John McKay said. “And there’s no doubt it violates (government) rules.”

The two letters were written a few weeks after Fantino came under fire for indicating the Harper government wants to use Canadian foreign aid to increase the country’s trade and Canadian business activity abroad.

The first letter is dated Dec. 17 and directed at McKay.

McKay had successfully championed a private member’s bill several years ago that laid benchmarks for how Canadian aid could be used in the future, including making poverty alleviation a key consideration.