White powder sent to four Canada ministers: police

Ottawa, Ontario, CANADA: (FILES) This April 12, 2011 file photo shows the Bank of Canada building in Ottawa, Ontario. The Bank of Canada maintained its key lending rate at 0.75 percent on March 4, 2015, saying the worst of a shock of plummeting oil prices has likely already struck the economy. In a statement, the bank said it expects most of the negative impact from lower oil prices will appear in the first half of 2015, although it may be even more front-loaded than previously projected, easing the need for further monetary stimulus. Inflation has eased. The rest of the economy is benefitting from lower oil prices. AFP/Geoff Robins/STR

March 6, 2015
MONTREAL (AFP) - Four Canadian government ministers were sent envelopes of a suspicious white powder on Thursday that was later believed to be harmless, police said.

"In each case, a staffer found white powder in an envelope" at the ministers' Quebec regional offices, provincial police Sergeant Richard Gagne told AFP.

The envelopes were delivered to the constituency offices of Infrastructure Minister Denis Lebel, International Development Minister Christian Paradis, Minister of State for Small Business and Tourism Maxime Bernier and Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney.

Police indicated that an analysis of the powder found in the first envelope, opened by Lebel's office, did not present any danger.

The envelopes arrived as parliament debates a controversial anti-terror law, championed by Blaney.

The episode calls to mind anthrax scares and hoaxes in October 2001 in the United States and other countries in which anthrax-laced letters were sent to journalists and lawmakers, infecting several people.