|
If Paul Martin were the piano player in
a New Orleans brothel when police raided the joint, he'd
claim to be entirely unaware people were having sex there,
much less paying for it.
"You mean this isn't a social club
where older men and younger women discuss music, poetry
and current events? Gee, I wondered why the young ladies
were always wearing their (blush) unmentionables."
That is what Martin would have Canadians
believe about his involvement in the Quebec sponsorship
scandal: He had absolutely no knowledge that anything
untoward was going on inside the Liberal cabinet, even
though for nine years he was its most senior member, after
Prime Minister Jean Chretien.
His explanation for failing to blow the
whistle on the massive, putrid corruption within the Liberal
party in Quebec was not to deny personal involvement,
but rather to deny any knowledge of anyone's involvement.
Admitting he knew, but denying he was
directly involved, would at least have been plausible
-- hard to believe, but plausible. Denying all knowledge,
though, is quite frankly impossible.
Martin should have said, "I confess
I knew some of this was going on, but even I am shocked
at the scale and audacity of it all. I and my supporters
stayed as far away from this as possible. That may not
be as satisfying to Canadians as having blown the whistle
before the sponsorship scheme rang up a $250-million price
tag. But rest assured, I in no way took part and I vow
to make up for my earlier failure to sound the alarm by
getting to the bottom of this now and punishing those
involved, no matter who they are. Your tax dollars will
be repaid and those politicians and organizers most involved
will be jailed."
Not only was Martin finance minister while
the $100 million in "commissions" and other
assorted payoffs were being made -- in other words, he
was the man who signed the cheques -- he was also the
senior minister for Quebec. He was an MP for a Montreal
riding, too, where some of these funds were undoubtedly
"slushed."
On top of that, he met regularly with
the other Quebec ministers, including alleged culprit-in-chief,
Alfonso Gagliano, to plan strategy and discuss the Liberal
party's political fortunes in Quebec. Even if all the
bad boys and girls at these meetings suddenly clammed
up and stopped whispering every time Boy Scout Paul entered
the room, he would have to had suspect something was amiss.
And as we know from his leadership campaign,
Prime Minister Paul Martin had supporters and operatives
in every riding in the country, including in Quebec, who
were constantly feeding him intelligence on who within
the party was doing what to and with whom.
Either Martin thinks Canadians are so
dumb we will buy his Sgt. Schultz act -- "I see nothing.
I know nothing, Col. Hogan" -- despite his long-term,
high-level involvement, or he is himself so dumb he really
didn't see a thing.
When boiled down to campaign slogans,
neither explanation yields a pretty alternative: "Paul's
not stupid, but he's pretty sure you are!" or "Vote
Martin: Too dense to be dishonest!"
I don't think Martin is dense or especially
dishonest. (At least, I don't suspect he was very dishonest
while the scandal was going on. He is clearly being dishonest
now, though.) I doubt he was personally involved in the
siphoning, funnelling and money laundering.
Rather, he knew it was occurring and simply
kept his mouth shut because lots of Quebec Liberals who
were helping him get elected as Liberal leader were involved
in the scandal, big time. I suspect this is why Martin
is not doing the honest and honourable thing by vowing
to prosecute whomever was involved -- to do so would mean
having to prosecute too many of his good friends.
I also suspect this is why the PM has
begun peddling the bizarre, even kooky, explanation that
the scandal was a "very sophisticated cover-up"
perpetrated by a super-secret cabal of law-breaking bureaucrats.
That sounds like the adult equivalent of "alien robots
stole my homework" or the plot for a bad "B"
movie.
If 12 to 14 bureaucrats are behind this,
Mr. Prime Minister, as you claimed Wednesday, why have
you not sacked them? The auditor-general says most are
still working for your government -- not Chretien's government,
yours.
And answer this: Of the $250 million stolen
from Canadians to fund this fiasco, $100 million was paid
to middlemen for such services as transferring government
funds to recipient organizations. Why? Did the government
suddenly forget how to deliver cheques itself? Politicians
usually seem pretty good at cheque delivery.
Moreover, the recipient groups -- arts,
cultural and community organizations, sports teams, sporting
events and festivals -- are never timid about approaching
governments for money. Indeed, such groups never seem
to stop asking for government cash. Surely you cannot
expect Canadians to buy the story that middlemen were
paid 40 per cent of the total cost just to ferret out
groups that needed grants.
What are you doing, today, to recover
our money?
Lorne Gunter
Columnist, Edmonton Journal
Editorial Board Member, National Post
tele: (780) 916-0719 - fax: (780) 481-4735
e-mail: lgunter@shaw.ca
132 Quesnell Cres NW, Edmonton AB T5R 5P2
|
