Gomery blames Chrétien for sponsorship flaws (CANADA)

[TrogL]

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/11/01/gomery-report051101.html

Former prime minister Jean Chrétien and his chief of staff must be held responsible for the flawed running of the federal sponsorship program from 1994 to 2003, Justice John Gomery said in his first report on the scandal, made public Tuesday.

Prime Minister Paul Martin has referred the report to the RCMP for possible criminal investigations, ordered the Liberal Party to repay $1.14 million to the public purse and asked that 10 people named in the report be banned from the party for life. Chrétien was not one of those people, said Martin.

Gomery also assigned blame to a handful of other people involved in the $332 million scheme to raise the federal government's visibility, primarily in post-sovereignty-referendum Quebec.

Yes, Canada has political scandals, too.

In a nutshell, during the Quebec referendum kafuffle, the Quebec wing of the federal Liberal government arranged for Chretien to hire several advertising firms to promote the idea of "one Canada" and poo-poo Quebec's separatist leanings. Two problems:

1. Some of the firms got millions and did little or no work.
   
2. Some of the money got kicked back to the Liberal Party
   

When this first came to light, the Conservatives tried to make a big thing out of it and it was even a factor in the federal election a fwe years ago, being one contributing factor in a Liberal minority government (kept afloat by catering to the far-left NDP, hardly new behaviour in Canada's inscrutible politics).

Now comes the fun part.

Martin promised to call an election right after the report was released, partly to keep the Conservatives at bay. The report is damning of Chrétien and some of his staff, none of whom are in the picture any more and pretty much whitewashes Martin and his crew.

As it stands, the Conservatives have accomplished little. They made a huge ruckus about Canada's lack of involvement in the Iraq war (I made a small contribution to keeping us out) which has now backfired in their face with the Iraq prison scandals. They were unable to prevent gay marriage's passage to law.

Hence, there will no doubt be a November/December election (we've already had a strategy meeting to figure out how to plant signs in frozen ground). Because there's basically no new information in this report (everything came out during the hearing process) and Martin's been exonerated, any progressive who sat the last election out will come back to the Liberals. The Right (Conservative/Alliance/Reform/whatever-they're-called-this-week) will likely splinter/schism in pure frustration and split their vote.

[CatBoreal]

1. Great, another election...

...I was kinda liking the way this minority government was working.

[Minstrel Boy]

6. it's inevitable

Even if the Liberals hang on through the end of the year, which is likely, Martin's pledged to call an election within 30 days of Gomery's final report of recomendations, which Gomery today said would likely be issued in about three months.

All the recent polls show the Conservatives have gained no traction on this issue; some show the Liberals still hold a double digit lead. And Liberal voters who are saying they're likely to switch are evenly divided between the Conservatives and the NDP.

[TrogL]

7. Oh Goody

I'm not sure if I'm being sarcastic or not.

Three months from now makes for a February 1 release, which makes for a March 1 election call which means the ground may be somewhat thawed out. I've still got scars from banging signs in the last election.

[Lisa]

12. trudging door-to-door in the slush -- what joy!

Or if there's a cold snap, having to wear ice-climbing crampons just to get up people's walkways to do a literature drop. And if your candidate decides to stand by a busy roadway to wave at passing drivers .... having to block the worst of the wind by standing so close to him/her that people think you're an "item"!

[Spazito]

2. Looks like the faux Cons and the BQ will have to wait for Martin

to call the election in Jan/Feb as Martin has been completely exonerated by Gomery which was bad news for the opposition. It looks like the NDP are holding their fire for now, a wise move, in order to negotiate a deal with the Liberals to move away from any privatization of universal health care.

Layton is in the driver's seat again, gotta love that!

The faux Cons are desperate to try and get the NDP to align with them because they don't dare repeat their previous alignment with the Bloc as it was an abject failure.

[TrogL]

4. Yeah, but Martin *promised*

This is so juicy. He's got them over a barrel. If they bitch that they don't want an election right now all he has to say is "what, you want me to break my promise?"

Popcorn, anyone? :popcorn:

[Spazito]

8. Yep, I just LOVE it when the faux Cons are frustrated

makes for good tv and interesting politics. There were no surprises in the Gomery Report, that must be so frustrating for both the Cons and the Bloc, lol.

[applegrove]

3. Right (Conservative/Alliance/Reform/ AKA CRAP! Remember that?

[TrogL]

5. Liberal Party Announces Measures in Response to the Gomery Report

(mods, this is a press release so I'm putting the whole thing up)

Ottawa - The Liberal Party of Canada today announced that it is remitting to taxpayers the sum of $ 1,142,818.27 as a result of the findings of the Gomery Report. The Party’s National Executive met by conference call at noon today at the request of the Leader, the Rt. Hon. Paul Martin, and approved the remittance.

“The Liberal Party of Canada, under the leadership of the Prime Minister, has acted in the most responsible fashion throughout the Gomery Inquiry. We are, today, acting decisively to ensure Canadians that ours is an organization that operates within the highest ethical standards,” said Liberal Party President Michael Eizenga.

“We know we must rebuild trust. We believe we are making complete restitution to taxpayers. It is in that spirit that the Party is pleased to respond quickly and decisively to Justice Gomery’s report.”

A full version of the approved motion is attached. It sets out exact amounts which, taken together, represent a full and complete repayment of improperly received funds, and contributions called into question by Justice Gomery, by the Liberal Party of Canada and its Quebec wing.

Further, the Liberal Party of Canada (Quebec) will be announcing measures respecting a ban on membership in that organization of ten individuals whose conduct has dishonoured the Liberal Party of Canada.

While Justice Gomery noted (on Page 436 of his fact-finding report) “according to evidence presented on behalf of the LPC(Q) reforms to the party’s management and systems make it less likely that such irregularities will reoccur”, the Liberal Party of Canada has recently gone further by establishing a new Code of Conduct , adopted by the National Executive on Sept. 10, 2005.

The Code, which governs all employees of the Party and members of its National Executive, includes rules governing fundraising and acceptance of contributions, management of Party finances, approval of expenditures, procurement, use of Party assets, and conflict of interest. Its measures, along with others taken by the Party, exceed those envisaged by the Canada Elections Act, and ensure that a repeat of the circumstances which existed at the time of the Sponsorship Program is impossible.

These measures are part of a sweeping reorganization of the Party and its finances undertaken since November, 2003. Other measures were entered into evidence before Justice Gomery at a public hearing on May 31, 2005 by Party National Director, Steven MacKinnon, and LPC(Q) Executive Director, Hervé Rivet. They included:

Central fundraising for the Liberal Party of Canada and its provincial and territorial wings;

Funding arrangements which ensure stable funding of provincial wings by the National Party;

Centralized receipting of all contributions, including those at the riding level;

Strict contribution limits on corporations and individuals and quarterly reporting of individual donations as a result of amendments to the Canada Elections Act; and

Consolidated annual audits of the National Party and all provincial wings and heightened financial transparency at all levels of the Party.

The Party has fully cooperated with the Inquiry. It complied with every request for information, ordered independent audits of itself and the LPC(Q), and asked its most senior staff members to testify before the Inquiry. In addition, it called in the RCMP to investigate the offices of the LPC(Q) and the actions of those in charge of that organization at the time to ensure that the Party itself was not a victim of fraudulent conduct.

----------------------------

Ottawa – Le Parti libéral du Canada a annoncé aujourd’hui qu’il remboursera aux contribuables la somme de 1 142 818,27 $ en raison des résultats du rapport Gomery. Ce remboursement a été approuvé par l’exécutif national du Parti lors d’un appel conférence qui s’est tenu à midi aujourd’hui à la demande du chef, le très honorable Paul Martin.

« Le Parti libéral du Canada, sous la direction du Premier ministre Paul Martin, a agi de façon très responsable tout au long de l’enquête Gomery. Nous agissons aujourd’hui de façon décisive afin de rassurer les Canadiens que notre organisation opère selon les normes les plus élevées en matière d’éthique, » a dit le président du Parti libéral du Canada, Me Michael Eizenga.

« Nous savons que nous devons regagner la confiance des Canadiens. Nous croyons que nous dédommageons entièrement les contribuables. C’est dans cet esprit que le Parti est fier de répondre rapidement et de façon décisive au rapport du juge Gomery. »

La version complète de la motion approuvée est jointe. Elle indique les montants exacts qui, lorsqu’ils sont comptabilisés, représentent le remboursement complet des fonds qui ont été reçus par le Parti libéral du Canada et son aile québécoise par des moyens inappropriés ainsi que des contributions remises en question par le juge Gomery.

De plus, le Parti libéral du Canada (Québec) annoncera sous peu l’adoption de mesures visant à interdire l’adhésion à cette organisation à dix individus dont la conduite a déshonoré le Parti libéral du Canada.

Bien que le juge Gomery ait souligné (à la page 436 de son rapport de faits) que « d’après la preuve présentée au nom du PLCQ, il est désormais moins probable que de telles irrégularités se produisent, suite aux réformes qui ont été apportées à la gestion et au fonctionnement du Parti », le Parti libéral du Canada est récemment allé encore plus loin en établissant un nouveau code de conduite, adopté par l’exécutif national le 10 septembre 2005.

Ce code, qui gouverne tous les employés du Parti et les membres bénévoles de son exécutif national, comprend des règlements qui s’appliquent à la levée de fonds et à la réception de contributions, à la gestion des finances du Parti, à l’approbation des dépenses, à l’approvisionnement, à l’utilisation des biens du Parti et aux conflits d’intérêt. Les nouvelles mesures, qui s’ajoutent à celles déjà adoptées par le Parti, vont au-delà des mesures prévues dans la Loi électorale du Canada et font en sorte que les abus dont la preuve a été faite devant l’enquête Gomery ne se reproduisent plus.

Ces mesures font partie de la réorganisation intégrale du Parti et de ses finances entreprises depuis novembre 2003. D’autres mesures ont été présentées au juge Gomery lors d’une audience publique le 31 mai 2005 par le directeur national du Parti, Steven MacKinnon, et le directeur exécutif du PLC(Q), Hervé Rivet. Elles incluent :

le financement central du Parti libéral du Canada et de ses filiales provinciales et territoriales;

des ententes de financement pour un financement stable des filiales provinciales par le Parti national;

l’émission centrale des reçus pour toutes les contributions, y compris celles au niveau des circonscriptions;

des limites strictes de contributions d’entreprises et d’individus en plus de rapports trimestriels concernant les dons individuels en raison des amendements à la Loi électorale du Canada; et

des vérifications consolidées annuelles du Parti national et de ses filiales provinciales en plus d’une meilleure transparence financière à tous les niveaux du Parti.

Le parti a entièrement collaboré avec l’enquête. Il a satisfait à toutes les demandes de renseignements, a exécuté des vérifications indépendantes de ses activités et de celles du PLC(Q) en plus de demander aux membres senior du personnel de gestion de témoigner dans le cadre de l’enquête. De plus, le Parti a contacté la GRC afin qu’elle effectue une enquête des bureaux du PLC(Q) et des actions des individus en tête de cette organisation au moment en question afin de s’assurer qu’il (le Parti) n’était pas victime d’une conduite frauduleuse.

[daleo]

9. I think Chretien will strenuously object to this, as he should

The Conservatives will not get much traction from "scandals" for one simple reason:

- Mulroney still has not explained what work he did for Karl Heinz-Shreiber (of AirBus scandal fame) that was worth $300,000, which is about one thousand billable hours at a normal lawyer's rate.

As long as this is the case, the Conservatives have no credibility on the issue. People don't forget things like this just because the media chooses not to talk about them.

[TrogL]

10. Younger voters may not remember Mulroney

Didn't Mulroney sue over some allegations and win?

[daleo]

11. He did, which was comical

If you compare the standard of evidence that Mulroney got, to the one Gomery is using on Chretien.

It is the responsibility of all Canadians to hand down the story of Mulroney's perfidy to the young - it should be a solemn tradition, for as long as the rivers flow and north wind blows. We must never let another Conservative catastrophe befall us.

[Lisa]

13. I think there's still a golf course on Vancouver Island ...

... which has a Mulroney-shaped target on its driving range.

[daleo]

14. Next visit, I'm taking my clubs. n/t