Catching
Up the Best in Corruption
Dr.
Bikram Lamba
Who says that the third world countries like Nigeria, India, Bangla Desh are beset with corrupt politicians? We in North America challenge their leadership and rightly so. How can our politicians not aspire to retain the top slot and be relegated to back seats in this sector? The long-awaited report holds Prime Minister Paul Martin's predecessor accountable for misspending tens of millions of dollars in public funds intended for a national unity program in the rebellious French-speaking province of Quebec. The much-awaited Gomery Report sees the light of the day and lo and behold, all those clad in pristine white are besmeared with mud.
Agreed that there is no evidence that former Prime Minister Jean Chretien was personally aware of a kickbacks scheme orchestrated by Quebec businessmen as concluded in the report released after a 20-month investigation. But Chretien must bear political responsibility for a program he created that allowed senior members of his Liberal Party to funnel millions of dollars into their Quebec coffers, Gomery said.” The public trust ... was subverted and betrayed, and Canadians were outraged, not only because public funds were wasted and misappropriated, but also because no one was held responsible or punished for his misconduct," Gomery said.
Justice John Gomery has delivered a serious blow to the governing Liberals with a finding that the party's Quebec wing ran an elaborate kickback scheme to squeeze donations out of federal sponsorship contractors. An audit by the commission found Ottawa spent $355 million over a decade on sponsorships and related programs supposedly aimed at raising the federal profile in Quebec and fighting separatism. The excuse of national unity was an excellent camouflage to make murky and unseemly deals, to line the pockets of the close associates, and to hell with the voters.
About $150 million went to Liberal-friendly ad agencies and other middlemen, often for little or no real work. The figures exceed those uncovered by Auditor General Sheila Fraser, who first blew the whistle on the scandal. "The irregularities and mismanagement that she described were clearly worse and more widespread that she had learned or imagined," said Gomery.
Prime Minister Paul Martin, the then Finance Minister, by contrast, was absolved of any misconduct. That assertion gives the Grits a flicker of hope as they prepare to face an irate electorate. "The story that unfolds in (the report's) pages is troubling," said Martin. "But it's a story that needed to be told - in full, in detail and in public." The Gomery report here does lack fixing fundamental responsibility. A crown minister who presides over the finance and is unaware of what is happening, whatever the reason be, is ipso facto not worthy of the office that he holds.
And the guilty ones
Jacques
Corriveau, a longtime Chretien friend and ally whose firm Pluri Design
received nearly $8 million in sponsorship business, was fingered as
"the central figure in an elaborate kickback scheme by which he
enriched himself personally and provided funds and benefits" to the
Quebec wing of the Liberals. Among
those receiving a negative finding alongside Mr. Chrétien are
former bureaucrat Chuck Guité, former minister of public works
Alfonso Gagliano, Liberal fundraiser and Chrétien supporter Jacques
Corriveau, and Mr. Chrétien's long-time chief of staff, Jean
Pelletier
He
noted that Chrétien chose to keep tight control of the sponsorship
program in the Prime Minister’s Office and ignored warnings from
Jocelyne Bourgon, then clerk of the Privy Council, that it might be better
to shift the responsibility elsewhere.
As chief of staff, Pelletier “failed to take the most
elementary precautions against mismanagement” in a program that Gomery
called an “open invitation” to profiteering by unscrupulous
contractors. “Mr. Chrétien must accept
responsibility for the actions of his [political] staff such as Mr.
Pelletier,” said the judge.
The only member of Chrétien’s cabinet singled out for blame by Gomery is Alfonso Gagliano, who was public works minister for most of the sponsorship program. “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,” says the report.
Chretien and his chief of staff, Jean Pelletier, are both "entitled to be exonerated from blame for Mr. Corriveau's misconduct," since there is no evidence they were directly involved,” wrote Gomery. "But they are to be blamed for omissions," the judge quickly added.
Action Taken
Just hours after Justice John Gomery released his report on the sponsorship scandal, Martin announced additional measures to clean things up.
Prime Minister Paul Martin has forwarded the Gomery report to the RCMP for further investigation and banned 10 prominent Liberals from the party, including former cabinet minister Alfonso Gagliano. Just hours after Justice John Gomery released his report on the sponsorship scandal, Martin announced additional measures to clean things up.
He
said the Liberal party will repay $1.14 million to the government —
money that had been diverted from taxpayers to the party in Quebec.
He asked that an additional 12 people or companies be sued in order to recover public funds. He asked the chairs and boards of Crown corporations “to take all additional disciplinary action judged necessary against employees who may have been involved.” "But they are to be blamed for omissions," the judge quickly added.
And he said 10 people named by Gomery will be banned from the party. The prime minister reiterated a promise to call an election within 30 days after Gomery delivers a second report, with recommendations for political and bureaucratic reforms, on Feb. 1.
Reaction of Voters
Their reactions ranged from skeptical to resigned to unconcerned, but a sampling of opinion from Canadians on Tuesday revealed few signs of fresh outrage or a bloodlust for ballot-box revenge following the release of the report into the federal sponsorship boondoggle.
A muted reaction in the immediate aftermath of the report could reflect both scandal fatigue and a deep cynicism about politics, one of the country's leading pollsters suggests.
Most Canadians have already dealt with their anger over the sponsorship scandal, Angus Reid said from Vancouver.
"The truly cathartic moment was several months ago when the proverbial shit hit the fan and all the revelations surfaced at the inquiry," Reid said from Vancouver. "It was a very emotional story, but we've already worked through many of our emotions on it." But he noted there was also a heavy helping of cynicism at play as Canadians shrugged their collective shoulders at the report's findings, and he pointed to recent studies in the United States suggesting distrust of all politicians is at a 20-year high. "That cynicism is here in Canada, too," he said, adding the sponsorship scandal is partly to blame. "A lot of numbers suggest Canadians feel the same way."
There was evidence on city streets across the country Tuesday to suggest Canadians don't place much faith in politicians or authorities of any stripe in the wake of the sponsorship scandal. They're all the same-they're all crooks, they're all a bunch of crooks," he said. "Today, they got caught. Tomorrow, someone else is going to get nailed."
It could have been disastrous for Martin if his fingerprints were all over this scandal, but the Liberals still have a lot to answer for. Canadians are now moving into a sober period of reflection where they'll ask themselves do we really want four more years of Liberal government, and is Stephen Harper really so scary?"
The real heroes
Today, as most Canadians try to digest Justice John Gomery's 1,400-page
compendium of stomach-churning sleaze in high places, two of the rare
heroes of Adscam can only read it and weep. They are the whistleblowers, a
federal auditor and a Montreal adman who tried to do right by exposing so
much wrong in the sponsorship fiasco.
More than 10 years ago, government accountant Allan Cutler began complaining about all kinds of hanky-panky in the awarding of federal advertising contracts. If his red flags had been heeded, Adscam may never have happened.
Four years later, a Montreal advertising executive -- who has always insisted on anonymity -- started seeing millions of dollars flowing from the public purse into ad agency bank accounts for little or nothing in return. In disgust, he quit his lucrative job, and secretly pointed the media to three of the telltale money-for-nothing contracts, a move that would eventually help blow the lid off the sponsorship scandalBut for all their best intentions, these two honourable Canadians found themselves plunged into a hell of ruined careers and overturned lives.
No matter how much today's much-anticipated report validates their claims, the cost of vindication makes any victory bittersweet at best. As far back as 1994, Cutler began noticing a pattern of rule-bending, shady deals and even possible fraud in the awarding of federal advertising contracts.
At the time, Cutler's boss was Charles "Chuck" Guite, the Public Works executive who would subsequently run the $350-million sponsorship program. In retrospect, it is hardly a surprise that Cutler's complaints to Guite fell on deaf ears. Finally forced on to stress medication, Cutler wrote in his diary: "Ethics and integrity seem to be minor considerations when it comers to advertising contracts."
After months of Cutler's complaining that contracts with Montreal ad agencies were being falsified, two internal government audits backed his claims. The day after the second audit was completed, Cutler was summoned to Guite's office and told his auditing job was being declared "redundant."
In an interview yesterday from his home, where he is now retired, Cutler sounded something between relieved and resigned as he awaited Gomery's findings. "What more can they do? I've been beaten up by the best," he said with a chuckle. "It ruined my career; there's no doubt about that. My name was mud." The story of the whistleblower at the Montreal ad agency was much the same. Unable to condone the fraudulent ad contracts flowing through his firm, he walked out the door and straight into a career dead end.
The tight-knit Montreal ad community, by then swimming in sponsorship contracts, shunned him for not being a team player. For the same reason, the government advertising authorities blacklisted him from all federal business for the duration of the sponsorship program. Since then, the feds have banned him for his previous association with one of the Adscam companies.
No regrets
Today, like Cutler, he is more resigned than bitter over the enormous personal cost of his whistle blowing. But what really bugs him is "how few people have been held accountable" for the $250-million Ad scam mess. "If a guy stole $250 from the corner store, justice would be a lot swifter and harsher than what's happening in the sponsorship thing," he said yesterday.
Perhaps Gomery's report will finally assign the blame where it is due. Maybe not. Either way, Allan Cutler has no regrets that he stood up for what he thought was right.
"Was it worth it? Yes. With everything that went on, I never regretted the decision at all. You have to take some responsibility for your life."
Whatever Gomery says today, Canadians owe a lot to the auditor and the adman.
The future of any country is dependant on the visionary and transparent government. The leadership has not only got to be honest, but appear to be honest. The sponsorship scams has lacerated the soul and psyche of the honest Canadians. They are disenchanted with the politicians. Would the guilty be able to show remorse for this blatant betrayal is the question that faces us? Election is not an issue. The issue is much larger as it affects the very basis of our much-vaunted Canadian values. Any comments, Mr. Martin and Mr. Harper.
Dr. Bikram
Lamba is a political and management strategist and can be contacted at blamba@torconsult.com.
Ph. 905 8484205.
