NEWS
Liberal sponsorship scandal a ‘low point’
By Mark Weir
Gazette Writer
The federal Liberal sponsorship scandal has started a potential
political landslide, troubling Liberals across the country.
It is the thorn in Prime Minister Paul Martin’s side
that will not disappear any time soon.
The issue of contention surrounds the federal government’s
spending of $250 million dollars of public funds following
the Quebec referendum in 1995. Auditor general Sheila Fraser’s
recent report outlines that $100 million of the funds went
missing to Liberal friendly ad agencies in Quebec.
“What separates this case of government misspending
from others is the fact that the auditor general sees elements
of a conspiracy,” said Jeffery Gandz, a business professor
at the Richard Ivey School of Business.
“There has been a clear breach of all sorts of rules,” he
said. Part of the difficulty of dealing with such scandals
is the creation, policing and enforcement of penalties, he
explained, adding a public inquiry was set up and may involve
some prominent former cabinet ministers, possibly even former
prime minister Jean Chrétien.
“Having received this huge scandal, [Martin] has to
do something about it,” noted Huron University College
political science professor Paul Nesbitt-Larking, adding Martin
is now attempting to perform damage control by distancing himself
from the scandal.
Martin has gone as far as putting his job on the line if a
public investigation finds that he had prior knowledge of the
misspending, as he was finance minister at the time under the
Chrétien government.
“[Saying that he will quit if found at fault] is part
of a plausible denial strategy that has been tried by many
politicians in the past,” Nesbitt-Larking said.
The timing of the report itself has also raised some questions.
According to political science professor Robert Young, the
report was ready in November, but Chrétien was successful
in delaying its release until he was out of office. “I
am surprised that Paul Martin was not more prepared for this,” he
said.
In order to restore public faith, Martin has fired several
public servants, as well as the former minister of public works,
Alfonso Gagliano, who was currently serving as Canada’s
ambassador to Denmark, and is now on his way back to Canada
to answer questions concerning the spending.
The opposition parties have constantly been questioning the
government since the story broke last week. Martin has gone
on record as saying that Canadians need to know the status
of the investigation before voters go to the polls. Whether
that means he will delay a spring election remains to be determined.
Gandz explained that while the allegations are very serious
they still have to be proven. However he said that “this
is clearly a low point for the Liberal government.”
