In 1982, Canadian Member of Parliament Svend Robinson accused the CIA of infiltrating the RCMP and funnelling political contributions to favoured politicians in provincial elections from 1970 to 1976.[15] The information seemed to arise from John H. Meier, an aide to Howard Hughes, but a secret investigation turned up no evidence of such a conspiracy.[16] The RCMP allegations dated back to 1977, when it was shown that they were "linked" closely to the CIA.[17]