Adscam/ Gomery Inquiry/ et al

[a_majoor]

This hardly needs comment.....

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2008/08/22/kelly-mcparland-jean-chretien-and-the-glory-that-is-china.aspx

Kelly McParland: Jean Chretien and the power of China
Posted: August 22, 2008, 10:00 AM by Kelly McParland
Full Comment, Kelly McParland

A conspiracy theorist would have great sport with Jean Chretien's sudden intrusion into the current government's relations with China.

During his ten years in office, Mr. Chretien wasn't always the keenest of travellers. He famously skipped the funeral of King Hussein of Jordan in 1999, insisting he couldn't possibly have made it in time from his ski holiday in Whistler. He had umpteen opportunities to attend the opening of various Olympics, but rarely could seem to find the time. He didn't go to Lillehammer, didn't go to Nagano, didn't go to Sydney, didn't go to Salt Lake City. The one Games he managed to make were in Atlanta, perhaps just coincidentally the closest and easiest to reach from Ottawa.

He did show enthusiasm for trade junkets though, especially to China. As opposition leader Mr. Chretien was a bear on trade, since the Tories were in favour of freeing it up. But as Prime Minister he discovered that's how Canada's economy survives, so he was for it. Especially with China. He visited China six times while in office, led two trade junkets, and made a point of forging close ties with Chinese leaders. One of his last foreign visits in office took him to China; on his final day he made a point of meeting with China's prime minister.

After leaving office he became a consultant to powerful business interests, using the relationships he'd forged in office to open doors and grease deals. His first major foreign trip, barely two months out of office, was a high-level, low-profile visit to China organized by China International Trust and Investment Corp., a vast state-owned conglomerate with holdings across the globe. It's into steel, aviation, communications, energy --- you name it. With Mr. Chretien was André Desmarais,  president of Power Corp. and a  director of CITIC Pacific Ltd., CITIC's  Hong Kong arm, in which Power has a big stake. Mr. Desmarais is married to Mr. Chretien's daughter.

If the Desmarais family isn't Quebec's most important, the other guys are keeping a low profile. Power Corp has major investments and interests in China. Peter Kruyt, vice president of Power Corp, is chairman of the  Canada China Busness Council. Andre Desmarais is honorary chairman. His father, Paul Desmarais, is founding chairman.

Though it's not an absolute rule that former prime ministers refrain from commenting on the governments of their successors, for the most part they reserve their interjections for the most crucial of issues. Blabbing away every other Tuesday would just diminish the novelty factor and reduce the ability to deliver any real impact. Other than his well-known bitterness over the Gomery report, Mr. Chretien has been relatively quiet -- and even on Gomery he mainly had former aides and associates do the beefing.

Then on Monday he suddenly and unexpectedly declared to the Canadian Bar Association that Stephen Harper had seriously undermined relations with China by failing to attend the opening of the Olympic Games in Beijing and by offering honorary citizenship to the Dalai Lama. Never mind that the Dalai Lama is one of the world's most admired people, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, and that working for peace is usually considered a good thing. It doesn't take a Gomery inquiry to understand that Mr. Chretien's remarks were so heavily freighted with personal and private interests it's a wonder they even managed to struggle from his lips without collapsing to the floor in a dead heap from the sheer weight of gravity. Olympic weightlifters have had trouble cleaning and jerking half as great a load in medal competitions this week. The remarks were picked up and carried in Chinese newspapers, where they were presumably viewed with approval by the people who will make the decisions next time Mr. Chretien comes calling.

You're getting the drift here, right? Mr. Chretien has deep ties to Power Corp and the Desmarais family. Power Corp has extensive corporate interests in China. Mr. Chretien has worked to promote those interests, and suddenly pipes up, out of nowhere, to attack the government in public in the midst of the Olympics, in remarks that are sure to put him and his interests in a good light in China, possibly at the expense of Canada's own interests.

Yet when the Conservatives dared to point out this obvious conflict, Liberal worthies went down with the vapors. Bob Rae, the foreign affairs critic, deemed it "absurd," "disgraceful from top to bottom" and "guttersnipe politics." Mr. Rae's brother John is executive vice-president of Power Corp. John managed his brother's run for the Liberal leadership, and lent him most of the money he borrowed to finance it.

None of which necessarily means anything, since the Liberals are all fine, upstanding and goodhearted citizens, as they have always been, right through Mr. Chretien's term in office. Mr. Rae is an honest man and he's repaid his loans. But, given the  significant role Power Corp and the Desmarais family plays in Mr. Chretien's life, and the extent of Power Corp's interests in keeping China sweet, to suggest it's "absurd" or "guttersnipe" to even mention Mr. Chretien's obvious bias — when it was Mr. Chretien who lobbed the first unexpected grenade — is a bit rich. Were the Tories supposed to simply ignore the fact Mr. Chretien has "Power Corp." all but tattooed on his forehead?

On the same page of the National Post that carried the Chretien story Thursday was another item, in which Bloc Quebecois MP Francois Legault bemoaned the deep cynicism of Canadian voters. It's difficult to sell them on anything — whether its sovereignty for Quebec or saving the environment — because they just don't want to hear it. "There's a loss in confidence in all the political class," he said.

Gee. A loss of confidence in politicians. You have to wonder where that's coming from.

National Post

 

[Edward Campbell]

I resurrecting a nacrothread because this story, reproduced under the Fair Dealing provisions (§29) of the Copyright Act from today's Globe and Mail, illustrates just how bad things were in the Liberal party of Canada in the later Chrétien  years and it also indicates that the story is not over:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/benot-corbeils-downfall-linked-to-friend-who-became-agent-c4590/article1336323/

Benoît Corbeil's downfall linked to friend who became agent C4590
Citing ‘vengeance' rather than cash payments, Alain Renaud offered to work with the RCMP to help bring down key figure in the Liberal sponsorship scandal

Daniel Leblanc

Montreal

Friday, Oct. 23, 2009

Benoît Corbeil and Alain Renaud were best of friends in the heyday of the Chrétien government, calling themselves “brothers” as they organized for the Liberals through the 1990s and early 2000s.

Benoît Corbeil, left, and Alain Renaud, who worked for the Liberal Party in the 1990s and 2000s.
Globe and Mail

The friendship seemed strong enough to last a lifetime – except that in 2004 Mr. Renaud embarked on a secret mission as “C4590,” a key informant in the massive RCMP investigation into the sponsorship scandal.

In a previously unknown tale of intrigue and betrayal, Mr. Renaud wore a wire to help the Mounties nail Mr. Corbeil on charges of fraud and influence peddling last year. For his work, he received $29,000 plus a $50,000 performance bonus, and has now been relocated into the witness protection program, with the RCMP effectively granting him immunity from prosecution. And his labours could bear further fruit: Mr. Renaud provided information on at least two other players in the scandal, with the potential for more bonus money, documents show.

Mr. Corbeil, now 46, former director-general of the Liberal Party's Quebec wing, pleaded guilty last year and underwent a sentencing hearing in Montreal Friday.

Benoît Corbeil, who pleaded guilty in June to fraud and influence peddling, makes his way from a courtroom in Montreal on Oct 23, 2009.
Globe and Mail

The RCMP's hiring of Mr. Renaud demonstrates the extent to which the Mounties have been manoeuvring in recent years to get to the bottom of the corruption that plagued the sponsorship program. While the RCMP laid charges of fraud against four individuals in 2003 and 2004, it only managed to bag Mr. Corbeil in the five subsequent years.

The $79,000 Mr. Renaud received seems relatively low, especially compared with the six- or seven-figure sums handed to informants in some biker-gang cases. But the Mounties believe Mr. Renaud, now 53, agreed to become C4590 not so much for money as for “vengeance” against the people he feels cheated him in the 1990s.

“He has mentioned to his handlers that he looks forward to seeing the RCMP investigation reach its goals and to see people like [former Groupaction Marketing Inc. president] Jean Brault, Benoît Corbeil [and others] arrested,” the RCMP said in a warrant application. “He claims that those individuals manipulated him and used him to enrich themselves, while he obtained nothing.”

The above agreement was signed by informant Alain Renaud and two RCMP officers on April 14, 2008, four days before the arrest of former Liberal organizer Benoît Corbeil. The letter states that the RCMP is paying a $50,000 "reward" to Mr. Renaud, who provided information that led directly to the laying of charges of fraud and influence peddling. The agreement points out that the money is taxable income.
Globe and Mail

In those days, Mr. Renaud was a door opener/lobbyist who helped direct federal sponsorship contracts to advertising firms, most notably Groupaction. He received about $1-million in salaries and expenses. At the same time, he was highly active as an organizer and fundraiser in the Liberal Party, oftentimes working alongside Mr. Corbeil.

Court records show that in 1997, the pair collaborated to collect a businessman's $50,000 undeclared cash payment to the party. In 1999 and 2000, they also organized a series of fake invoices to move $117,000 out of the Liberals' Quebec wing, along with a now deceased bagman.

Like everyone involved in the sponsorship program, Mr. Renaud was well aware in 2002 when the RCMP launched an investigation into the disgraced national-unity initiative, which was designed to put up Canadian flags and banners at various events in Quebec.

For unknown reasons, he started providing information to the RCMP in 2004 as an “informant,” receiving $14,600 in payments for his various tips.

Two years later, he went one step beyond and became an “agent source,” by which he agreed to gather information in undercover operations and to testify in court against his targets, if need be.

In exchange for a series of payments that went on to total $14,400, Mr. Renaud organized meetings in late 2006 with three suspects: a businessman involved in the sponsorship program, a senior Liberal staffer, and Mr. Corbeil.

Mr. Renaud was paid $800 a week for his efforts at first. The payments were boosted to $1,000 a week in the summer of 2007 when he wore hidden microphones as part of a number of discussions with Mr. Corbeil, both in person and on the phone.

The above is one of many internal RCMP receipts used to keep tabs on payments made from 2004 to 2007 to informant Alain Renaud, who went by the code name C4590 among Mounties. The receipt is proof that the money was given to Mr. Renaud in front of two RCMP witnesses, signed by all three.
Globe and Mail

During the meetings, Mr. Renaud frequently discussed a number of incidents, including the fake-invoice scheme and the cash donation, in an attempt to obtain a confession from Mr. Corbeil.

According to documents, the RCMP got Mr. Renaud's co-operation after making it clear that they were focusing on people higher up in the Liberal hierarchy.

A warrant, filed in court in 2007, said that while Mr. Renaud “never received a formal promise from the RCMP that he would not be charged, his handlers mentioned to him that he was not a target of the RCMP investigation into the sponsorship scandal.”

According to the RCMP, Mr. Renaud operated with the understanding that he would not be charged.

Through it all, Mr. Corbeil seemed blissfully unaware of his friend's true intentions. From January to July of 2007, the pair spoke more than 40 times on the phone and had at least six one-on-one meetings. In March of 2007, Mr. Corbeil even tried to help Mr. Renaud find employment.

Mr. Corbeil only learned of Mr. Renaud's moonlighting after he was charged in April of last year and discovered how the RCMP had built its case against him. He is hoping to avoid a prison term, arguing that he did not benefit financially from his crimes. The Crown is asking for 18 to 24 months imprisonment.

If the RCMP investigations are ongoing it is bad news for Price Michael's Liberals, bad news, in fact, for all Liberals with ties to Chretien - people like Bob Rae and Denis Coderre andf so on.

 

[a_majoor]

Maybe this was the reason the Liberals were in such a hurry to force an election after summer break; ensure the story never saw the light of day.

Now they should try to sit out 2010 and maybe try for an election late fall next year when this story fades, or (depending on how cunning and ruthless the Martin/Ignatieff faction(s) is(are), play up the story for all its worth; purge the Chretien wing of the party once and for all and then be prepared to fight an election with a unified command and the true ability to show clean hands.

 

[a_majoor]

Well, the Liberals have hired a former Chretienite as the COS, but this should take some more wind out of their sails:

http://www.stephentaylor.ca/2009/11/motion-on-adscam-to-be-moved/

Motion on Adscam to be moved

I’ve learned that Peterborough Conservative MP Dean Del Mastro will move the following motion at committee on Tuesday:

    November 1st 2009 represents the fourth anniversary of the first report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Sponsorship Program and Advertising Activities, presided over by Justice Gomery. Despite the time that has passed, we are no closer to knowing which Federal Liberal riding associations benefited from the stolen taxpayer funds or where the missing $43 million dollars highlighted by Justice Gomery ultimately wound up.

    The Standing committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics calls on the Auditor General of Canada to conduct a full audit of the sponsorship program to determine which federal Liberal riding associations received stolen funds and to clarify for Canadians who received the missing $43 million dollars.

 

[a_majoor]

Well we know these guys have experience:

http://www.stephentaylor.ca/2009/11/michael-ignatieffs-new-director-of-communications-has-an-interesting-background/

Michael Ignatieff’s new Director of Communications has an interesting background

“Everything old is new again” is the buzz coming from Liberals and journalists in Ottawa. Peter Donolo’s the new boss of the OLO shop (the Dunno-LO as one journalist told me weeks ago) and today we’ve learned that he’s finally put the some new key players in place after the wholly awkward ejection of Davey/Fairbrother.

Among the “fresh” faces is Michael Ignatieff’s new Director of Communications, Mario Laguë, a man the CBC’s Rosemary Barton tells us is among the new gang that “[knows] Quebec inside-out”.

But, a Lexis-Nexis/Informart plunge into the past tells us more!

It appears that Mario Laguë was not only hired by Paul Martin to put a brave face on the sponsorship scandal, but Ignatieff’s new D.Comm was also part of a three-man panel with Chuck Guité that hired then Public Works Minister Alfonso Gagliano’s Chief of Staff to replace Guité, who was retiring. Stephen Harper, then opposition leader, criticized the hire saying the sponsorship scandal could have been stopped if a senior bureacrat was hired in the position instead.

    Affidavit shows how Guité was replaced Document reveals membership of team that chose boss for sponsorship program — The Globe and Mail, October 18th, 2005 by Daniel Leblanc.

    OTTAWA — An affidavit prepared by the Public Service Commission for the Gomery inquiry sheds new light on the controversial hiring of a former Liberal aide to head the sponsorship program in 1999, including the role of a federal official who would become an aide to Prime Minister Paul Martin.

    The inquiry heard conflicting testimony about how Pierre Tremblay, then the chief of staff to then public works minister Alfonso Gagliano, was hired to replace retiring bureaucrat Chuck Guité. Mr. Guité said he rigged the process at Mr. Gagliano’s behest; the former minister denied any political interference.

    The affidavit, which went unnoticed when it was tabled in May, shows that Mr. Tremblay’s hiring was approved by a three-member selection board made up of Mr. Guité, Public Service Commission executive resourcing consultant Michael Carey, and Mario Laguë, a long-time Liberal supporter who became Mr. Martin’s first director of communications when he became Prime Minister. The affidavit said Mr. Tremblay was hired “based on the recommendation of the selection board.”

    Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said yesterday the problems with the sponsorship program could have been stopped if an experienced civil servant had been hired in 1999 instead of Mr. Tremblay. The problems continued until an RCMP investigation was launched in 2002, but by then Mr. Tremblay was working in another federal agency.

When Prime Minister Paul Martin was in office he hired Laguë to “cover-up” the sponsorship scandal according to opposition Conservatives at the time.

    Assistant to PM contributed to cover-up, opposition says Mario Lague included in strategy sessions when problems first surfaced, e-mail says; Mario Lague included in strategy sessions when problems first surfaced, e-mail says — The Globe and Mail, February 20th, 2004 by Campbell Clark

    OTTAWA — Prime Minister Paul Martin’s communications director was a key player in the Chrétien government’s efforts to put the best face on serious problems in the sponsorship program in 2000, government records show.

    Opposition politicians focused many attacks in the Commons yesterday on Mario Lague, Mr. Martin’s communications director, insisting he was involved in efforts to “cover up” the sponsorship scandal, which saw millions misused from 1996 to 2002.

    Mr. Martin fought back, asserting that Mr. Lague “was not involved in the management of the sponsorship file.”

    However, records show that Mr. Lague was included in top-level meetings to plan strategy when problems began to emerge. An e-mail from September, 2000, obtained by an independent researcher and provided to The Globe and Mail, indicates that Mr. Lague was one of a small group of senior officials and political aides who plotted to put the best face on a damaging audit.

 

[a_majoor]

A long wait for some answers, and maybe even some justice:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/key-figure-in-sponsorship-scandal-set-to-become-witness/article2107295/

July 22, 2011
Key figure in sponsorship scandal set to become witness
By DANIEL LEBLANC
From Saturday's Globe and Mail
Luc Lemay is on verge of long-pending immunity deal with prosecutors, and will likely testify against former Liberal organizer Jacques Corriveau

The RCMP is closing in on its first major Liberal operative after a decade-long probe into the sponsorship program, as it nears cutting a deal with another player in the scandal to become a state witness and testify about millions in alleged political kickbacks, government sources said.

It is the bookend to a story that, until recently, The Globe and Mail has been prevented from investigating. Only after a winning a lengthy battle at the Supreme Court last year against Groupe Polygone could the newspaper continue to press on in the public interest. Polygone was attempting to force the newspaper to reveal the identity of a key source as part of its defence against a federal lawsuit aimed at recouping money the former Liberal government paid the firm. As part of its ruling, the top court struck down a contentious publication ban preventing The Globe from reporting on negotiations to settle the federal lawsuit.

Now, a series of ongoing secret negotiations in Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec City are paving the way for the Mounties to go after Jacques Corriveau in the coming weeks, senior sources said. The one-time friend of former prime minister Jean Chrétien and prominent Liberal organizer in Quebec made $8-million out of the sponsorship program for little or no work, in part through the use of misleading invoices, according to a public commission into the sponsorship scandal.

Mr. Corriveau was at the centre of major revelations involving cash payments and secret political donations at the 2005 Gomery inquiry, where he was identified in the final report as a "central figure in an elaborate kickback scheme." However, the 78-year-old has not faced any legal consequences for his actions, as police have yet to go beyond four admen and one bureaucrat in their bid to punish those responsible for the waste of tens of millions of dollars in public funds.

According to information obtained by The Globe, recent breakthroughs in the RCMP's Operation Carnegie are related to the promised collaboration of Luc Lemay. The Montreal businessman's firms, Groupe Polygone and Expour, received $37-million in federal sponsorships from 1997 to 2002, all the while offering alleged kickbacks of $6-million to Mr. Corriveau, according to a federal lawsuit.

Mr. Lemay is nearing an immunity deal that has been months in the works with Crown prosecutors in Quebec, sources said. Simultaneously, federal sources said, Mr. Lemay will be expected to pay $8-million to $10-million to settle a civil lawsuit that was launched by Ottawa in 2005 to recoup wasted sponsorship funds.

Freed from the possibility of criminal charges or a civil trial, Mr. Lemay would then be expected to act as a Crown witness if the RCMP lays charges in coming months against Mr. Corriveau.

The complex criminal and civil negotiations involving Mr. Lemay constitute a key point in the police investigation into the sponsorship scandal, which contributed directly to the Liberal government's defeat in 2006 and the party's subsequent decline. After years of apparent stagnation on the file, the RCMP has set its sights on political officials involved directly in the scandal, which was a priority for the Canadian public after a series of crooked dealings were exposed by the media, the Auditor-General and the Gomery inquiry.

In particular, evidence at the Gomery inquiry showed Mr. Corriveau made six-figure cash payments to senior Liberal officials in Quebec ahead of the 1997 federal election, among a series of secret donations to the then-governing party.

Government sources said Mr. Lemay, whose hunting-and-fishing shows and various publications were one of the biggest recipients of sponsorship cash, has already made significant contributions to the RCMP case.

"Lemay has provided excellent information, including previously undisclosed material," said a government official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Under the sponsorship program, the federal government offered hundreds of millions of dollars to sporting and cultural organizations in the late 1990s and early 2000s in exchange for the placement of federal advertising at the event sites. The program was marred by fraud and mismanagement, which financially benefited firms that made donations to the Liberal Party.

Court records show that in June, 2005, the RCMP raided Groupe Polygone's offices, and arrested Mr. Lemay for questioning, before releasing him on the same day. Mr. Corriveau's house was raided by the RCMP in 2007, with the search warrant alleging that Mr. Corriveau and Mr. Lemay "committed fraud and a conspiracy to commit fraud against the government of Canada" in conjunction with Jean Brault, the president of Groupaction Marketing Inc.

Mr. Brault pleaded guilty to five counts of fraud in relation to sponsorship contracts in 2005. An RCMP search warrant shows Mr. Brault is now collaborating with the RCMP, attending eight interview sessions with Mounties in which he provided explanations on payments of $500,000 to Mr. Corriveau.

Mr. Lemay has always publicly denied any wrongdoing.

"It was the Government of Canada which freely and of its own volition decided the amount to be paid for each sponsorship," Groupe Polygone said in a statement of defence against the federal lawsuit.

Still, the fact Mr. Lemay has been involved in negotiations related to an immunity deal suggests the RCMP built a case against him. Mr. Lemay's lawyers could not be reached for comment on Friday.

Sources who spoke to the Globe about the ongoing legal negotiations involving Mr. Lemay expressed frustration at the slow pace of the proceedings, which have been years in the works. The RCMP investigation into the sponsorship scandal started in 2002, and the raid against Mr. Corriveau's house was carried out more than four years ago.

Sources said the 2005 federal civil lawsuit contributed to delays in the criminal proceedings - without an immunity deal, any statement from Mr. Lemay to the RCMP could potentially be used against him in the civil matter. Mr. Lemay's proposed immunity deal was recently reviewed by Louis Dionne, the director of prosecution services in Quebec, and it is expected to be finalized by the end of the summer, government sources said.

If Mr. Lemay ends up paying $8-million to $10-million to settle the civil lawsuit, it would be the largest payout obtained by federal lawyers. Public Works Canada reports having so far recovered a total of $7-million from 11 other groups involved in sponsorships.

 

[Edward Campbell]

Chrétien wins another round according to this article which is reproduced under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Copyright Act from the Globe and Mail:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/chrtien-wins-200000-in-sponsorship-feud-pmo-demands-he-give-it-back/article2280903/

Chrétien wins $200,000 in sponsorship feud; PMO demands he give it back

DANIEL LEBLANC

OTTAWA— The Canadian Press
Published Thursday, Dec. 22, 2011


Ottawa has to pay $200,000 in legal costs incurred by Jean Chrétien in his fight to restore his name after being blamed for the sponsorship scandal by the Gomery inquiry in 2005.

However, the Prime Minister’s Office called the ruling “disappointing,” and said the money rightly belongs to taxpayers.

“It is our belief that the Liberal Party must pay back the millions of dollars stolen from taxpayers through the sponsorship scandal. We call on Jean Chrétien to give this $200,000 back to taxpayers on behalf of the Liberal Party,” PMO spokesman Carl Vallée told The Globe and Mail.

Mr. Chrétien refused to comment on the matter, as did John Gomery, the former judge who came down hard in 2005 on the former prime minister for his role in establishing the scandal-plagued sponsorship program.

Mr. Chrétien’s reputation was clearly tarnished by the final report of the Gomery inquiry, which stated he created a program that was secretive and circumvented normal administrative safeguards.

However, the former prime minister convinced the Federal Court in 2008 to strike out the negative findings against him, arguing that Mr. Gomery, through a series of public comments during the hearings, showed a clear bias. The Federal Court of Appeal later upheld the ruling, and last week, the Federal Court ruled in Mr. Chrétien’s favour on the issue of legal costs.

In his ruling, Mr. Justice François Lemieux decided to award five times more money than Ottawa was offering because of the high stakes at play.

“The appeal concerned the reputation of a former prime minister of Canada and the proper conduct of federal commissions of public inquiry. These were important and complex issues of public importance,” Judge Lemieux said.

Mr. Justice Max Teitelbaum of Federal Court ordered in 2008 that all sections of Mr. Gomery’s report dealing with Mr. Chrétien and his former chief of staff, Jean Pelletier, be considered “void.”

It was sweet victory for Mr. Chrétien who had chafed under Mr. Gomery's characterization of him as “small-town cheap,” and insisted his legacy was being unfairly tarnished.

Mr. Gomery's chief sin, according to Judge Teitelbaum, was a preoccupation with the media spotlight that led him to give interviews he should have eschewed, make comments that indicated he judged issues before all evidence was heard, exhibited bias against Mr. Chrétien, and trivialized the inquiry proceedings.

Mr. Pelletier, who is now deceased, also received $200,000 in legal costs, to be provided to his succession.

The legal establishment didn't like the way Judge Gomery did his business and it thinks it is punishing him by rewarding Chrétien and Pelletier but what they are really doing is giving the Conservative another opportunity to revisit Adscam and even Chrétien's real estate dealings that were peripheral to it - and I hope the Conservatives do not waste time reminding Canadians, yet again, that Jean Chrétien and  Jean Pelletier, aided by a bevy of Québec insiders led a corrupt enterprise from Parliament Hill and the PMO that aimed to give your and my hard-earned money to Québec-Liberal hacks, flacks and bagmen.

 

[a_majoor]

One can wonder about the linkages between the Quebec corruption scandal(s), ADSCAM and so on, but the Liberal Party sure made out like gangbangers with the cash:

http://bcblue.wordpress.com/2013/09/06/liberals-received-1860000-from-quebec-corruption-links/

Liberals received $1,860,000 from Quebec corruption links
September 6, 2013 — BC Blue


Of the $2,180,000 donated from companies and people charged with corruption in Quebec, the federal Liberal Party was given $1,860,000 of that total (see here) and as the chart above shows, culminating in a massive dump of cash in 2003 just as donation caps were introduced.

Wonder if Elections Canada is investigating the Liberals? RCMP?