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In what must be a Canadian first, the news aggregator Nealenews.com has directly linked to the US blog Captain’s Quarters on the (alleged) Gomery Inquiry testimony by Jean Brault under publication ban. Technorati is showing the post is creating heavy linkage on both sides of the border.
The blogosphere has obliterated the publication ban in an electronic mushroom cloud, and more remarkably, bypassed the mainstream media in its entirety in doing so.
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Canada’s Corruption Scandal Breaks Wide Open
A political scandal involving the Public Works Ministry, a government effort called the Sponsorship Program, and allegations of corruption in the ruling Liberal Party has Canada abuzz with rumors of payoffs, Mob ties, and snap elections. For the last two years, Canadian politics has been gripped by the so-called “sponsorship scandal†– tens of millions of dollars in government contracts which were funneled into advertizing firms closely connected with the Liberal government for little or no work, but with shadowy rumours that much of the money found its way back into Liberal coffers. Prime Minister Paul Martin, himself a Liberal, appointed the Gomery Commission to investigate these charges and determine whether to bring charges against government officials for corruption and malfeasance. (See the blog Small Dead Animals for some excellent background on the case.)
Most of the testimony heard by the Commission has been public, but Judge Gomery has decided to create a publication ban on the testimony of three key witnesses: Jean Brault, president of the ad agency Groupaction, Charles Guité, an officer of the Public Works ministry who worked on the Sponsorship Program, and Paul Coffin, president of the ad agency Coffin Communications. The potential damage of their testimony has so unnerved the Liberal Party that they have reportedly started working towards a snap election so that they will not have to face the voters once the facts surface from the record.
And well they might, if Brault’s testimony gives any indication of what they will face. Thanks to a friend of mine, CQ readers can get a taste of what Brault has already told the Gomery Commission. For obvious reasons, I cannot reveal this person’s name or position, but this person is in a position to have the information. Bear in mind that this comes from a single source, so while I have confidence in the information, you should consider the sourcing carefully.
Payoffs And Kickbacks
On Thursday, Jean Brault began his testimony, subject to the publication ban, and revealed a massive pattern of corruption going to the highest levels of the Liberal party and government. Brault testified to hundreds of thousands of dollars of bogus transactions designed to benefit the Liberal Party of Canada over a period from 1994 to 2002.
Most of the illegal campaign contributions involved Brault either hiring “employees†— who were in fact working full time on Liberal Party activities — or paying invoices for Liberal Party campaign expenses (which were never declared as such) or making untraceable cash donations to Liberal officials. In exchange for helping the federal Liberals in Quebec, Brault received millions of dollars in federal advertising contracts.
Brault said he met with Jean Carle, a key aide to then Prime Minister Jean Chretien to propose a more direct way of ensuring that Groupaction got a large share of federal advertising dollars in Quebec. Carle referred Brault to federal bureaucrat Charles (“Chuckâ€Â) Guité and told him that “there was room for everybody.†Guité later put together the sponsorship program, in which five Liberal connected firms — including Groupaction — were guaranteed a monopoly on government “sponsorship†advertising (e.g. federal
advertising at sporting or cultural events) and related work. The sponsorship program eventually became a huge slush fund into which over $250 million was poured, over $100 million of which was paid in fees and commissions to these five advertising firms, with little or any evidence of work done or value for money.
In exchange for these large contracts for little or no work, Brault kicked back generously to the Liberal Party, putting Liberal organizers on his payroll while they continued to perform party work (including, at one point, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien’s brother, Gaby Chrétien), paying invoices to other companies for work actually done for the Liberal Party, and giving large donations — in cash — to the Liberal Party through Renaud or Liberal Party organizer (and close associate of Public Works Minister Alfonso Gagliano) Joe Morselli.
Protection Racket?
Towards the later part of the sponsorship program, the friends and associates of Public Works Minister and former ambassador to Denmark Alfonso Gagliano, some of whom have been linked to organized crime, played a larger role in the schemes.
At one point, Gagliano associate Tony Mignacca told Brault that if he didn’t rehire Renaud (who had left Groupaction to start a new company), he would lose his newly acquired contract with Via Rail — Canada’s state-run passenger rail service. Brault broke down in tears after he recounted this testimony. At a meeting in 2001 with Joe Morselli, Brault said that he arranged to have the meeting in an overheated room in a restaurant — so that Brault could ask Morselli to take off his coat and ensure that he wasn’t carrying a body pack.
This is just the beginning of Brault’s testimony. If the Gomery Commission can corroborate Brault, then the reek of corruption goes through all levels of the Liberal party and may explain their ability to out-campaign the Conservatives. After all, they’ve siphoned off hundreds of millions of government dollars to promote their own party and to guarantee their monopoly on power. They hijacked the Canadian tax base to fund their own campaigns and hide the financial trail.
More will be forthcoming, but it isn’t difficult to understand why Liberal politicians have begun to panic already.
April 5th, 2005
Everything we read is fraud-fraud-fraud these days. A dozen companies mensiones within the last week it seems. Now the government?
Biggest businesses, banks, insurance companies, and government are booming while masses suffer with record debt lately.
At this rate any economic recovery will be fraud driven =)
I’m Canadian. There is fraud, organized crime, theft, bribery and incredibly lax immigration here. And that’s just the Liberal Government! We are patsys just bending over. To be honest, having lived in Ottawa for a looong time, and having heard/seen lots of things, I am sometimes afraid of saying anything about it all.
We know why Canada wants to relax its marijuana laws. We know why Canada wants to legalize prostitution. We know why immigrants that jump the queue get in to Canada and those who follow the process get left out. We know why Canada will NEVER be a terrorism target. People, it’s not consipiracy. It’s fact. There is only one way to change it, and it’s not too late.
Who says we are not like Americans? Remember the Savings and Loans fiasco, and who could forget Enron. Now we have Gomery. You don’t have to be a liberal to be a crook. It must have something to do wiith that old adage about power corrupting.
The Yankees reelected Bush so look out Canada we could end up with Martin for another term!
I believe what we are hearing from the inquiry
is not new,just that we have an auditor in ottawa who couldn;t be bought and put the liberals in a position that they couldn’t cover up,but the former prime minister is doing his best to try and all on our dime.
maybe if an election is called and another party takes over this can be prevented.
I have lived through a number of governments in ON, BC and Ottawa and have yet to know of one that was free of favourtism and/or scandal or financial sculduggery. It happens in religious movements too. Ghandi said it well, ‘be the change to want to see’. Comparing the Gonery Affair to communism is away beyond imagining, we have a ballot box every four or five years where you can change the results, a democracy where everyone needs to think ahead of election day to make a good choice. Then we must stay on their case. How many people were looking the other way for the past several years but really did know what was going on? Lots I imagine. Too easy to sweep it under the carpet. Imagine the many bureacrats who smelled something rotten and did and said nothing. The guilty go beyond this tip of the iceberg we see. So let us each live our life as we hope everyone else would and cast a better vote next time. No time for tears or anger, lighten up, be of good cheer, spread good wishes and a great deal of honesty.
maybe we should ask are self a better question,did Quebec win or lose the referendem in 1995 or did the red necks buy themselves a victory.Funny we sent 500 observers in Ukraine to see that every-thing went right but when it serves one’s own cause they send them on vacation. That’s the liberal way$$$.(from a separatiste that is wating for you on next election will be there!
Paul Martin is well known (his sons now!) to be the owner of Canadian Ship Lines wich is registered in a fiscal paradise not to pay income tax.
Now if Canadians who new about this still voted for such a dishonnest man, well they deserve what’s coming to them.
Before judging Paul Martin, canadian voters should take a good look at themselves.
Je dis la même chose aux francophones. Merci Thank you.
I smelled two Liberal rats Jean Chretien and Alphonso Gagliano, many years ago. Now we see the rats that the arrogant Liberals are. We will soon find out how with the Gomery Commission Inquiry. Is it any wonder that we do not have a government for the people, but only for the Liberals. To screw you into the ground.
Wake up Canada!!!I am moving to Alberta as Ralph has done it right,,,,,Hello Ralph are you listening?
