Gallant wants third-party to review Andrew Harvey charges

FREDERICTON, N.B. – New Brunswick Liberal Leader Brian Gallant spoke out Sunday about Liberal candidate Andrew Harvey’s charges being dropped.

The charges of fraud and uttering forged documents were dropped Friday. The Carleton-Victoria candidate was charged along with two other people and three companies in documents filed on July 29 in Woodstock provincial court.

Last week, Harvey was suspended as a Liberal candidate and he issued a statement saying he believed the allegations were without merit.

When the charges were dropped Friday, Gallant welcomed Harvey back onto his team.

But Gallant says there are serious, unanswered questions about the situation and is calling on David Alward to answer those questions.

“Obviously one of the main things we need to have answered I believe as a province, is the timing of everything that has transpired,” he said.

Assistant Deputy Attorney General Luc Labonté said in a statement Friday that the “decision to withdraw charges rests solely with the Crown Prosecutor’s office, which is independent from government.”

“As a result of this decision, there will be a review of the process that resulted in the laying of the charges,” Labonté said.

Gallant wants that review done, not by the Auditor General, but by third-party.

“I think there are many people who have question marks, and they want them answered,” Gallant said. “Hopefully people will see that Andy is someone that’s working extremely hard to gain their confidence. Now that the charges are cleared, he’s very much looking forward to putting this behind him, as we are too. ”