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By Lee Berthiaume



OTTAWA — The political furor over Defence Minister Peter MacKay’s use of a military helicopter escalated Tuesday as the official Opposition demanded he be removed from cabinet, saying he is “no longer fit” to be a minister of the Crown.

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“He’s an embarrassment to the government, he’s an embarrassment to the prime minister, he’s an embarrassment to the whole country,” NDP interim leader Nycole Turmel said in the House of Commons. “And what do you say to an embarrassment? You say ‘good riddance.’”

But Prime Minister Stephen Harper continued to stand by MacKay, and analysts predict the government will settle into a waiting game in the hopes the issue will blow over in the next few weeks.

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MacKay has acknowledged he used a Cormorant helicopter to leave a remote Newfoundland and Labrador fishing lodge in July 2010 to get to the Gander airport.

However, while the minister said the ride was entirely for government business and as part of a pre-planned military demonstration, Defence Department emails indicate the minister could have found alternative modes of travel, and that the demonstration was a “guise” designed to protect the minister from embarrassment should the pickup be discovered.