The Gomery Report to be released tomorrow

[2952-0-0]

Yes, Supreme Court Justice Jean Gomery will release his first report into the sponsorship scandal tomorrow, at 10 am Eastern Time. And I'm hoping for blood to be shed as the Liberals get thrashed. MWHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

[Gabu]

Well, the way I see it, I can't really lose: either the Liberals aren't totally trashed, which works out in my favor, or they are, in which case people will finally have to stop calling Canada a one-party banana republic, which also works out in my favor.

[Umengus]

Yes, Supreme Court Justice Jean Gomery will release his first report into the sponsorship scandal tomorrow, at 10 am Eastern Time. And I'm hoping for blood to be shed as the Liberals get thrashed. MWHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

what it it? wich country?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

what it it?

A report into systematic corruption

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Canada

[Hatman 🍁]

First of all, it's John Gomery, and second of all, he certainly is not on the Supreme Court.

[2952-0-0]

Ottawa — The Liberal government reacted swiftly to a damning report on the federal sponsorship scandal that said it “subverted and betrayed” Canadians' trust in their system of government, saying they would clean up government accountability to ensure this type of corruption never happened again and reportedly referring the report to the RCMP for possible further charges.

Mr. Justice John Gomery's interim report, released Tuesday, placed some of the responsibility for the scandal on former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. It did not, however, place blame on Prime Minister Paul Martin's current government.

Public Works Minister Scott Brison spoke to reporters minutes after the release of the report on behalf of the Liberal government, saying that the activities outlined by Judge Gomery were endemic in governments for decades and that it was Mr. Martin's government who stopped it.

He outlined what will likely be the Liberal strategy for the course of the day — that the wrongdoing contained in the report was not conducted by the current government.

“The kinds of activities that Justice Gomery was investigating were wrong and totally unacceptable....And there is only one leader, Prime Minister Martin who has had the guts to say enough is enough, we're going to end this, we're going to clean it up and we're going to strengthen governance to make sure this never happens again.”

As well, Mr. Martin reportedly handed over the report to the RCMP, sources told The Canadian Press. The report found that kickbacks and other illegal contributions were made to the Liberal party in Quebec as part of a complex web of transactions involving government departments, so Mr. Martin has asked the Mounties to examine those activities further.

Mr. Martin will speak to the Canadian public about the report and its implications at 1 p.m. EDT.

He has vowed to go to an election 30 days after Judge Gomery's final report into the scandal, expected in February.

However, the NDP holds the balance of power in his minority government.

NDP Leader Jack Layton said he needs a few days to mull over the implications of the report.

"There will be a decision soon," he said.

"We know there will be an election on a corrupt Liberal government. The question is when,” he said.

In his long awaited report, Justice Gomery delivered a scathing assessment of the program, saying its irregularities and mismanagement were even worse and more widespread than earlier imagined.

His findings suggested that the program played out against a backdrop of a culture of fear among civil servants afraid to go against a manager for fear of reprisal and a program which saw ”gross overcharging” by agencies for hours worked.

Complex financial transactions among Public Works and Crown corporations, he found, saw kickbacks and illegal contributions to a political party in the context of the program.

“Many factors contributed to what has been described as the sponsorship scandal,” he said.

Those, he said, ranged from political interference in administrative matters and excessive concentration of power in the Prime Minister's Office to greed and venality.

“The public trust in the in its system of government was subverted and betrayed, and Canadians were outraged, not only be cause public funds were wasted and misappropriated, but also because no one was held responsible or punished for his misconduct.”

But, in terms of Mr. Martin, Justice Gomery said his role as finance minister during the run of the program means he was not involved in supervision of spending by either the Prime Minister's Office or Public Works. Government Services Canada entitles him ”to be exonerated from any blame for carelessness or misconduct.”

“Ministers are not responsible for what they do not know about the actions and decisions of the PMO and other ministers, or about the administration of departments other than their own,” Justice Gomery said.

Speaking at a press conference after the release of the report, Judge Gomery said he believes that he has presented a thorough review of his conclusions thus far.

He said that the second phase of his commission's mandate will hopefully lead to fixing larger mismanagement problems in government and make recommendations to ensure such a scandal does not happen again.

"Because of the dramatic nature of some of the evidence, the media has naturally tended to focus on the problems arising from the sponsorship program but I remind you there is a bigger perspective which deals with the government's contracting procedures, supervision and oversight and the interactions between political officials and public servants."

He said because of the mandate he was given, he was able to delve much further into the activities of the Liberal government at the time of the sponsorship program that the Auditor-General had been able to do.

"My intentions have been substantially realized," the Judge said.

Details of the report

The program was designed to further the federal cause in Quebec in the wake of the 1995 referendum, which saw the separatist movement come close to victory.

At the height of public concern about evidence coming out of the inquiry this spring, Mr. Martin took the airwaves to assure Canadians he would call an election after the release of Justice Gomery's final report.

In Tuesday's report — which assigns no criminal or civil responsibility — Justice Gomery said Mr. Chrétien must shoulder at least some of the responsibility for the program's problems.

Mr. Chrétien, he said, chose to run the program from his own office and to have his own staff take responsibility for its direction.

For those reasons, he said, Mr. Chrétien ”is accountable for the defective manner in which the sponsorship program and its initiatives were implemented.”

“Good intentions are not an excuse for maladministration of this magnitude,” he said.

“The Prime Minister and his Chief of Staff [Jean Pelletier] arrogated to themselves the direction of a virtually secret program of discretionary spending to selected beneficiaries, saying that they believed in good faith that those grants would enhance Canadian unity.”

Each, Justice Gomery said, had testified during hearings that they believed the program would be administered responsibly by Chuck Guité, who ran the program from its inception until 1999. But they also did not verify that assumption ”even though they had created a program lacking all of the normal safeguards against maladministration.”

“The assumption was naïve, imprudent and entirely unfounded,” Justice Gomery said.

Similarly, he said, Alfonso Gagliano, who was public works minister from 1997 to 2002, chose to continue with the “irregular manner” of directing the sponsorship program adopted by Mr. Pelletier, when he took office.

“Contrary to his testimony to the effect that his participation was limited to providing political input and making recommendations about events and projects to be sponsored, Mr. Gagliano became directly involved in decisions to provide funding to events and projects for partisan purposes, having little to do with considerations of national unity.”

Just as Mr. Chrétien must accept responsibility for the actions of his exempt staff, so must Mr. Gagliano, Justice Gomery added.

The Quebec wing of the Liberal Party, Justice Gomery also said, ”cannot escape responsibility for the misconduct of its officers and representatives.”

He said two successive executive directors ”were directly involved in illegal campaign financing and many of its workers accepted cash payments for their services when they should have known that such payments were in violation of the Canada Elections Act.”

Among his major findings, Justice Gomery found that there was ”clear evidence of political involvement” in the administration of the program and that there was insufficient oversight at the most senior levels of the public service which allowed program managers to circumvent proper contracting procedures and reporting.

Justice Gomery also found the administration of the program was surrounded in a ”veil of secrecy” regarding its administration and an absence of transparency in the contracting process.”

The scandal, he added, took place against a backdrop of a culture of fear by ”virtually all public servants” to go against the will of a manager who was circumventing established policies and who had access to senior political officials.

Justice Gomery also adopted the conclusions of Auditor General Sheila Fraser's sharply critical report on the affair, which found that from 1994 to 2003 a total of $332-million was spent by the government for special programs and sponsorships. Of that 44.4 per cent was spent on fees and commissions paid to communications and advertising agencies.

”Our inquiry concurs with the conclusions of the Auditor Genera's report,” Justice Gomery said. ”In many cases, however, the irregularities and mismanagement that she described were clearly worse and more widespread than she had learned or imagined.”

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Ouch. So whaddya all think the political impacts of this here report will be?

[2952-0-0]

Ouch. So whaddya all think the political impacts of this here report will be?

A resurgence of Quebec separatist sentiment. Remember, around ten years ago today they had the referendum on separation, so I guess the timing isn't good for the Liberals in Quebec. Quebec is still 50/50 on the issue, plus the provincial pro-federalist Liberals there are unpopular (there is no link between the two Liberals but their names don't help), therefore most say another referendum is a matter of when, not if.

[Hatman 🍁]

Ouch. So whaddya all think the political impacts of this here report will be?

A resurgence of Quebec separatist sentiment. Remember, around ten years ago today they had the referendum on separation, so I guess the timing isn't good for the Liberals in Quebec. Quebec is still 50/50 on the issue, plus the provincial pro-federalist Liberals there are unpopular (there is no link between the two Liberals but their names don't help), therefore most say another referendum is a matter of when, not if.

And guess who will be leading that charge (along with Duceppe)? A crack snorting gay guy! Things have changed. Of course, I am referring to Andre Boisclair, who is expected to be the next leader of the PQ.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

PQ is going to elect a crack addict as their leader? Ho hum... Quebec is certainly an "interesting" place then

[Hatman 🍁]

PQ is going to elect a crack addict as their leader? Ho hum... Quebec is certainly an "interesting" place then

I never said he was an addict. I think he may have been at one time, though. Apparently when he admitted this, his poll numbers shot up. His rival in the PQ race subsequently admitted to using marijuana.

[minionofmidas]

PQ is going to elect a crack addict as their leader? Ho hum... Quebec is certainly an "interesting" place then

I never said he was an addict. I think he may have been at one time, though. Apparently when he admitted this, his poll numbers shot up. His rival in the PQ race subsequently admitted to using marijuana.

LOL!

[Filuwaúrdjan]

I never said he was an addict.

Seeing as how addictive crack is, I took it as sorta given...

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Strictly speaking he'd still be an addict then; but a recovering one

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Seriously?
If someone had done that over here their numbers would have dropped so far they'd be scraping them off the floor

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What is this? A bidding war?

[Hatman 🍁]

Apparently when he admitted this, his poll numbers shot up.

Seriously?
If someone had done that over here their numbers would have dropped so far they'd be scraping them off the floor

We're not talking about ol' Conservative Britain here, we are talking about Quebec.  Two vastly different places. Actually, I wonder what would happen in English Canada if something like this happened. Well, Bill Clinton is popular here (and in Quebec), so I think as long as they are managing the country right, their past is of little relevance.

[Hatman 🍁]

Here is the article, if you can speak french:

http://lcn.canoe.com/infos/national/archives/2005/09/20050921-073053.html

[Filuwaúrdjan]

We're not talking about ol' Conservative Britain here, we are talking about Quebec.

Please use a small "c" in future

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True. We don't get the subsidies

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Generally speaking voters tend to see a difference between smoking a little weed/screwing their interns and being a crack addict

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Shock as Chretien claims report is "political biased"

[Hatman 🍁]

We're not talking about ol' Conservative Britain here, we are talking about Quebec.

Please use a small "c" in future

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True. We don't get the subsidies

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Generally speaking voters tend to see a difference between smoking a little weed/screwing their interns and being a crack addict

If you ask me, doing crack is just as bad as screwing your intern (that is if you're married). However, it doesn't matter if you are a good leader and can run the country well.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

If you ask me, doing crack is just as bad as screwing your intern (that is if you're married).

True and most people would normally agree with you. But y'now, Slick Willy had a way of talking that made it all O.K

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I'm not sure if I'd trust a crack addict to run anything well... you never know they might start pilfering the government coffers to pay for their habit or something... mind you, how hard is it to run Quebec? Just threaten to break away or summet and get given some nice new bribes subsidies by the federal government (which neatly takes this discussion back on topic).

Mind you... Charest doesn't seem to be very good at even doing that...

[Hatman 🍁]

If you ask me, doing crack is just as bad as screwing your intern (that is if you're married).

True and most people would normally agree with you. But y'now, Slick Willy had a way of talking that made it all O.K

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I'm not sure if I'd trust a crack addict to run anything well... you never know they might start pilfering the government coffers to pay for their habit or something... mind you, how hard is it to run Quebec? Just threaten to break away or summet and get given some nice new bribes subsidies by the federal government (which neatly takes this discussion back on topic).

Mind you... Charest doesn't seem to be very good at even doing that...

Well, as I said, he is no longer a crack addict.

As for Charest, he's a good guy and all, but remember, he used to be a Conservative. I wouldn't know who to vote for in Quebec. The Liberals are actually the only federalist party (other than the Green Party and maybe a few minor ones) while the next 3 major parties are separatist. There's not much choice for us federalists. Might as well vote PQ, and just vote "non" when the big question comes around

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Well, as I said, he is no longer a crack addict.

Yes, but he would say that, wouldn't he?

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Seeing as he was one of only two PC's to survive the '93 meltdown (in original colours anyway) and was PC leader for a while, I do remember
Amusingly neither of the seats the PC's held onto in '93 have a Tory MP now

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Same here actually; all three serious parties are pretty bad (although ADQ seems to be the worst... are they still around?)

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[Hatman 🍁]

Well, as I said, he is no longer a crack addict.

Yes, but he would say that, wouldn't he?

Ha! I guess it's possible eh? His wiki bio says he was doing it while he was a cabinet minister

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Seeing as he was one of only two PC's to survive the '93 meltdown (in original colours anyway) and was PC leader for a while, I do remember
Amusingly neither of the seats the PC's held onto in '93 have a Tory MP now
[/quote]
Too true, but remember, the PCers are dead now. Here's another trivia question, albeit unrelated. No party leader won their home city in the 2004 election. (NDP won Windsor [Martin], Liberals won Toronto [Harper], BQ won Hudson... I think... [Layton], and the Liberals won Montreal... I think.. [Duceppe])

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Same here actually; all three serious parties are pretty bad (although ADQ seems to be the worst... are they still around?)
[/quote]
Yes, and with more members than ever (5) (or a tie of the most)