A Parliament Hill staffer who attempted to give three Ottawa lobbyists a sneak peek at a confidential House of Commons report has been fired.

The trio were emailed a copy of the finance committee's draft report on budget consultations last week by a member of Tory MP Kelly Block's office.

Committee members had also received their copies of the report that day and were supposed to debate it before making its contents public to the entire House of Commons.

The Saskatchewan MP said she's since fired Russell Ullyatt and apologized for the breach, both to her committee colleagues and to the entire House.

Tory MP Kelly Block fired one of her staffers after he emailed a copy of the finance committee's draft report on budget consultations to three lobbyists. ((Kelly Block website))

But some members of the committee said the lobbyists weren't contacted quickly enough to be asked to destroy the documents and stop circulating them.

The confidential report had not yet been made available to the entire Commons, and MPs said their work has now been compromised and the three lobbyists given an unfair edge.

Flaherty concerned

They called on the Speaker of the House to declare that parliamentary privilege may have been breached and send the matter to a House committee for further study.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told reporters earlier in the day that he hasn't seen the report and was concerned about the leak, because MPs should have first crack at the study's contents.

The report includes suggestions from the four political parties as well as analysis of the budgetary and economic situation of Canada, said New Democrat Thomas Mulcair, adding its contents could give lobbyists an unfair edge.

"If the party in power, with the three opposition parties, converges on unanimous opinion on important points, [and] if someone else had notice of that convergence weeks ahead of time and drew a logical inference that this would become one of government's economic positions, the lobbyist would get a clear net advantage," he told the House.

Tim Egan, president of the Canadian Gas Association and one of the lobbyists sent a copy of the report, didn't ask for an advance copy, according to a statement issued by the association late Tuesday.

"Neither Mr. Egan nor any employee of the Canadian Gas Association solicited, received or read a draft of the House of Commons standing committee on finance pre-budget consultation report," said the statement, which was emailed to The Canadian Press.

Lynne Hamilton, a vice-president at GCI Group, was also sent a copy of the report.

Hamilton replied to the staffer "I heart you," according to documents brandished by Liberal MP Paul Szabo in the House.

Denies asking for report

But Hamilton's colleague, Jamie Carroll, said she didn't ask to receive the report nor did she circulate the documents once she received them.

"It was destroyed as soon as she realized what it was," Carroll said.

The third lobbyist, Tactix Group's Clarke Cross, did not return a call for comment.

Cross used to work for two current Tory MPs, while Hamilton's bio trumpets her links with Conservative parties at the federal and provincial level.

Tom Lukiwski, the parliamentary secretary to the House leader, said there was no breach of parliamentary privilege.

He said the actions Block has already taken should suffice, considering that's what usually happens after a leak.

"When those unfortunate occurrences have taken place, the members in question who have breached confidentiality matters have risen in this place and delivered a heartfelt apology," he said.

"Those apologies every time have been accepted. There has been no breach of privilege found and the House and committees have moved on."