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Junk
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Today's news
Thu, May 5, 2005
Quote:
PM, Manley in loop: Guite
But former cabinet ministers deny involvement in sponsorship scandal
By STEPHANIE RUBEC, Parliamentary Bureau
MONTREAL -- Former sponsorship head Chuck Guite dragged Prime Minister Paul Martin and former Liberal ministers into Adscam during his testimony before the Gomery inquiry.
Guite, whose testimony was under a publication ban until it was lifted yesterday, fingered Martin, Liberal leadership hopeful and former Ottawa South MP John Manley and others for elaborate schemes to direct work to Liberal-friendly ad agencies -- especially those who helped during election campaigns.
"It was basically splitting the pie," Guite said during his second appearance before the inquiry.
Guite, who headed the sponsorship program in the late '90s, told the Gomery Inquiry he heard from his successor, Pierre Tremblay, that then-public works minister Alfonso Gagliano had spoken to his two cabinet colleagues about maintaining advertising contracts for Vickers & Benson.
'NEVER INVOLVED'
PMO spokesman Scott Reid denied Martin's involvement.
"The prime minister never involved himself in the contracting process -- he never involved himself in the determination of contract awards. Period," he told the Sun.
A smiling Martin had little to say on his way into a reception last night at the soon-to-open Canadian War Museum.
Asked about Guite's testimony, he said: "I'm really not quite up on it."
Gagliano immediately denied the charge in an interview with Corriere Canadese, an Italian-language newspaper based in Toronto.
"I never made such a claim to Tremblay for one very simple reason: I have never spoken of contracts with Martin, nor with Manley," Gagliano told the Corriere in an interview to be published today.
Manley also denied he had a conversation with Gagliano about guaranteeing V & B wouldn't lose their $70-million tourism contract in the event they were bought by French advertising giant Havas.
"Clearly Mr. Guite is speculating and I want to state categorically that I did not have this conversation with Mr. Gagliano," Manley said in a statement.
Guite testified that Chretien's senior staffers and Manley made sure the BCP agency got a share of the $70-million tourism contract.
"When we awarded the contract strictly to (Vickers & Benson), Yves Gougoux from BCP went ballistic and phoned PMO and they changed it," Guite said on Tuesday.
Guite said Chretien's then-chief of staff ensured Manley, who oversaw Tourism Canada, split the contract between Vickers & Benson and Montreal's BCP.
"Is there political interference? Yes, I think so," Guite said.
BCP issued a statement yesterday "categorically" denying all of Guite's allegations.
In the Commons yesterday, Tory MP Jason Kenney said Martin "has not been telling the whole truth" when he says he was unaware of what was going on in the 1990s.
"(Martin) was just some innocent aboard this pirate ship captained by (then-prime minister) Jean Chretien, with people like Chuck Guite as the crew?" Kenney said.
"He was just some sort of hostage in this scandalous affair? Canadians don't buy it."
During his four days of testimony, Guite blamed his political masters for the mismanagement of the $250-million sponsorship program.
"Sitting here it seems that nobody was involved in this but me."
CHRETIEN PAL
Guite said former public works minister David Dingwall tinkered with the rules to make sure the Grits still had the freedom to handpick preferred ad agencies.
"After the (election) campaign is over and they've won, they want to return the favour," Guite said.
Guite said Dingwall introduced him to Pierre Corriveau -- bagman to Chretien -- shortly before the 1995 Quebec referendum.
"(Dingwall) said if you ever find somebody in bed between Jean Chretien and his wife, it'll be Jacques Corriveau," Guite said.
A new inquiry document shows Corriveau went directly to Jean Carle in the PMO to secure sponsorships even before the program's 1996 creation.
The document backs Guite's claims that Chretien's former chief of staff Jean Pelletier and Carle drew up the sponsorship lists and as the program matured, Guite said, he got direction from Gagliano.
Guite said Gagliano dipped into the sponsorships to pay for his own pet projects, even demanding a paper trail-free approval for a Canada sign in a small Italian village.
stephanie.rubec@tor.sunpub.com
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http://www.ottawasun.com/
Whether he had anything to do with the scandal or not, I always wondered why an up and coming political star like Manley packed up and left. Time will tell I suppose either way.
But this
Quote:
A smiling Martin had little to say on his way into a reception last night at the soon-to-open Canadian War Museum.
Asked about Guite's testimony, he said: "I'm really not quite up on it."
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Seems Mr. Dithers has taken a page out of Chretiens book on how to be arrogant in all his uselessness. Hmmm, a man who promised to get to the bottom of the Liberal corruption now effectively and flippantly states basically 'who cares'. Very nice. Shows how much he gives a shit about this country. No worries though. If he loses the next election he won't stick around. He's got a shipping company to run that doesn't pay taxes in this country. Promises made,.......
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" In Canada, you can tell the most blatant lie in a calm voice, and people will believe you over someone who's a little passionate about the truth." David Warren, Western Standard.
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