It’s been a very long time coming but Justice John Gomery finally released his first report on the Canadian Liberal government’s sponsorship scandal* (aka “AdScam”) today.
His report (text) places the blame squarely on former Prime Minister Jean Chretien and his key staff members and exonerates the current PM, Paul Martin, who was Chretien’s finance minister.
During the last election, Martin campaigned with a promise to investigate the corruption and to clean up the mess in Ottawa. The scandal’s effects rippled throughout Canada and the Liberals were reduced to a minority government situation as a result. It’s been one huge battle in the House of Commons since then for the Liberals as they’ve had to compromise in order to move their agenda forward.
Justice Gomery’s role in the investigation was to provide recommendations based on his fact-finding mission but, since he acted solely as a commissioner, he is not able to bring criminal charges. Some involved in the scandal have already faced charges in the courts as a result of RCMP investigations.
Gomery will release the second part of his report in February, 2006 at which time PM Paul Martin is expected to call an election as he had promised earlier this year but there are rumblings today that the opposition parties will pressure the government to call one as soon as possible instead.
Early opposition reaction to the Gomery Report, which was just released this morning, has been predictable. Despite the fact that the justice found Martin free of blame, he is being attacked from all sides.
Anyone interested in watching the debate in the House today can tune into Question Period at 2pm ET as the fireworks hit the floor.
* see link for background
Your last link’s unclosed as of my writing this, catnip.
I think most people with a brain who took a close look at Harper’s harping back during the summer realized that this or something like it would be the result. Harper knew that the report would probably exonerate Martin, and wanted to try and take control of the government and squash the actual publication of the report before then. Martin stuck to his guns, and I think the end result is going to hurt the Conservatives in the polls more than anyone else. (Though I’m still hoping the NDP will pick up a big swathe of seats!)
While Martin’s not a great PM, Harper almost certainly would’ve been much, much worse.
Thanks for noting the mistake!
Harper’s on the teevee right now blabbering on. He figures he’s special. He called a press conference instead of just appearing before a scrum like Layton and Duceppe.
He’s such a flipping liar. He’s saying that he never accused Martin of being responsible for the corruption.
Is he wearing his leather vest?
Uh oh. Harper just accused Layton of “chickening out”. Them’s fighting words.
(Layton is the leader of the lefty New Democratic Party – NDP. Harper leads the Conservatives.)
I don’t think this is going to go over well for Harper at all. He’s just digging himself a deeper and deeper hole. Attacking Layton, in particular, seems to be a very bad idea, as Jack seems more than willing to stand up and fight. Though this behaviour seems to confirm my guess (from skimming the results of the last election) that the biggest threat to the Conservatives is the NDP. In a lot of Conservative districts – around a dozen, if memory serves – the Conservative candidate only beat out the NDP candidate by a tiny margin.
Harper’s well-publicized opposition to the gay marriage amendment and (empty, as it turns out) threats of no-confidence and government shutdowns may well have reversed that margin.
…to say that I’m Gomeryed out? It’s all-Gomery all-the-time here in Gomery central. I eventually shut off the radio – I just couldn’t listen anymore.
The upset started early here, with the release of the report to Martin and his cabal before everyone else. That set the people (read conservs) off, and they just kept going. I listened to a bit at lunch, with MacKay. He was righteous in his outrage, along with the hosts. I don’t know. I’m so tired of it.
FWIW, here’s what the PM had to say: Statement by the Prime Minister:
You’re not the only one. In fact, that’s exactly why the opposition parties know it would be foolish to call for an election right now.
Now Chretien is stirring it up, back to his accusations of bias on Gomery’s part, saying he’ll call for a judicial review.
Harper and Duceppe are ganging up on Layton, claiming it’s up to the NDP to join forces with them and bring down the government — for a Christmas election campaign, no less.
Frankly, I think the opposition is just blowing smoke. They know there’s no appetite among the electorate for a winter election. And Harper can’t imagine that he’ll get any milage out of the release of the report. A poll a couple of weeks ago (granted, before the report was released) showed an election held now would give us the same result we already got: a minority Liberal government. I think Harper wants to back out of bringing down the government for a snap election, but make it look like Layton’s fault.
I think most voters are, like Olivia, Gomery’d out. We’ve got more important things on our minds. If Layton can use this opportunity to get more concessions out of Martin, well and good, but I honestly don’t think he’s got much leverage. And his amateurish performance over the deal the NDP struck to prop up the Liberals last spring was painful to watch. Makes me nostalgic for David Lewis — now there was a politico who knew how to work the angles in a minority government.
I wish I had more faith in Layton, but he seems like such a cypher. Anyone read Robert Heinlein’s The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress? Layton just keeps reminding me of Adam Selene, the computer-generated video image of a leader, who doesn’t really exist.
I think Harper wants to back out of bringing down the government for a snap election, but make it look like Layton’s fault.
I agree. He looked squeamish at his press conference yesterday when it came to demanding a snap election and definitely used Layton as his scapegoat. Harper’s a loser and he knows it.
I’d certainly like to see Layton use this situation again to apply more pressure on the Liberals to move more to the left.
Note, though, that Harper isn’t trying to use Layton against the Canadian left-wing. He’s trying to use him to save his own ass from his base, who have shown a remarkable tendency to devour leaders who displease them.
Layton strikes me the same way as he does you. Despite browsing the NDP pages in-depth around the last election, I still don’t feel I really know him. Oh, their platform is absolutely incredible – one of the best I’ve seen. Answers every question, dismisses every criticism, takes a defiantly progressive stance on pretty much everything. He’s also been cautiously taking advantage of the Liberal government’s weakness, (presumably) so as not to spook Martin. He was instrumental in getting the gay marriage legislation passed, and managed to do some other incredible things (like clean the pork out of a budget bill!) despite barely having enough seats to sway a vote.
I wish he’d push a little harder on proportional representation, though. It’s hard to tell if his apparent caution really is caution, or if its an attempt to escape election promises.
Winter election – yeah that’ll fly – anyone want to go on the campaign trail in Kugluktuk, Nunavut in the middle of December?
I didn’t think so…