I'm not sure if this is typical Canadian politics. A couple of sources are implying a drug connection.
Is this something that needs watching?
New Gomery testimony spurs talk of election
CTV.ca News Staff
The possible collapse of the Liberal minority government is once again a hot topic on Parliament Hill, fuelled by reports of explosive new testimony at the sponsorship inquiry.
Although exact details of the testimony cannot be revealed due to a publication ban, there are reports its disclosure would prove so devastating that Paul Martin's Liberal minority could fall if it became public.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1112395272381_11/?hub=TopStories
Another link:
http://www.canada.com/news/national/story.html?id=a4180270-25ea-4bb0-b015-a3545b0912fd
Its politics, I tend to not bother with listning to it. As for the "I heard from souces its a drug connection." Thats how dirty rumors and false statements start. If you dont know the hard facts you shouldnt be posting them. Its just politics as usual.
Bravo1-3
04-02-2005, 23:00
Its just politics as usual.
You may be right, but to see testimony suppressed that doesn't have any intelligence value... that doesn't compromise sources or methods, or tip a hand. that makes me wonder.
It's sort of a foreign idea to most Americans. If this is some kind of Canadian equivillant to a Grand Jury, then OK, but that's not what I'm reading here.
Rare delurk for a big rant.
I believe many Canadians are finally becoming disenchanted with the Liberal governement and any dirt that can be found to lessen their hold on the majority will be used to oust the Liberals from power, as brief as this hiccup in Canadian politics may be. Tey'll vote a Lib back in after a brief hiatus.
Example: growing up in a predominantly Liberal household (Mom was an at-hand Trudeau aide), you benefitted in many ways; diplomacy was important, as was support and budget for the troops. You learned to question first and judge later.
Times have since changed. The Liberals nowadays don't hold a candle to the Liberals of the 70's and 80's. Our majority government is now comprised of "whipped" wannabe pensioners whose soul focus seems to be cowing before the immigrant population. There is more in the budget for multi-culturism than there is for our forces. The CRTC controls Canadian content on our networks, including the news, and is on a current tangent to increase multi-cultural programming by 50% in the coming year. This disregards the opinion of many Canadians. We're indoctrinated with multiculturism from birth, but this is beginning to annoy people.
I'm not keen on prejudicial people, nor am I keen on prejudices against the masses. You're here - conform or go home. (I'm going to H*ll, too)
Basic premise = "If you migrate to our country then make an effort to integrate yourselves within our society."
It p*sses me off to no end that people who are consistently bring huge revenue, hire from within Canada and working their tails off 14-16 hours daily are being "punished" because of other immigrants. Their kids can't work p.t. jobs or go to college or University. Meanwhile, we have terrorists in Montreal and Vancouver running amok and getting off on airliner bombings. grrrrrrrrrrrrrr
End rant: long/short - if a scandal is going to stir the juices and promote favour towards proven contributors to our bottom-line and to our military , then bring it on.
I won't vote Liberal.
Footnote: research the latest CRTC agenda.
Its politics, I tend to not bother with listning to it. As for the "I heard from souces its a drug connection." Thats how dirty rumors and false statements start. If you dont know the hard facts you shouldnt be posting them. Its just politics as usual.I believe I said: "A couple of sources are implying a drug connection."
The hard facts are difficult to find when the Canadian government bans their publication. That doesn't stop me from wondering what is going on up there, and how that might affect the security of my country.
The following quote seems to refute the earlier stories. Please note the bolded text before you continue reading:
Most of the testimony heard by the Commission has been public, but Judge Gomery has decided to create a publication ban on the testimony of three key witnesses: John Brault, president of the ad agency Groupaction, Charles Guité, an officer of the Public Works ministry who worked on the Sponsorship Program, and Paul Coffin, president of the ad agency Coffin Communications. The potential damage of their testimony has so unnerved the Liberal Party that they have reportedly started working towards a snap election so that they will not have to face the voters once the facts surface from the record.
And well they might, if Brault's testimony gives any indication of what they will face. Thanks to a friend of mine, CQ readers can get a taste of what Brault has already told the Gomery Commission. For obvious reasons, I cannot reveal this person's name or position, but this person is in a position to have the information. Bear in mind that this comes from a single source, so while I have confidence in the information, you should consider the sourcing carefully.
Payoffs And Kickbacks
On Thursday, Jean Brault began his testimony, subject to the publication ban, and revealed a massive pattern of corruption going to the highest levels of the Liberal party and government. Brault testified to hundreds of thousands of dollars of bogus transactions designed to benefit the Liberal Party of Canada over a period from 1994 to 2002.
Most of the illegal campaign contributions involved Brault either hiring “employees” -- who were in fact working full time on Liberal Party activities -- or paying invoices for Liberal Party campaign expenses (which were never declared as such) or making untraceable cash donations to Liberal officials. In exchange for helping the federal Liberals in Quebec, Brault received millions of dollars in federal advertising contracts.
Brault said he met with Jean Carle, a key aide to then Prime Minister Jean Chretien to propose a more direct way of ensuring that Groupaction got a large share of federal advertising dollars in Quebec. Carle referred Brault to federal bureaucrat Charles (“Chuck”) Guité and told him that “there was room for everybody.” Guité later put together the sponsorship program, in which five Liberal connected firms -- including Groupaction -- were guaranteed a monopoly on government “sponsorship” advertising (e.g. federal
advertising at sporting or cultural events) and related work. The sponsorship program eventually became a huge slush fund into which over $250 million was poured, over $100 million of which was paid in fees and commissions to these five advertising firms, with little or any evidence of work done or value for money.
In exchange for these large contracts for little or no work, Brault kicked back generously to the Liberal Party, putting Liberal organizers on his payroll while they continued to perform party work (including, at one point, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien’s brother, Gaby Chrétien), paying invoices to other companies for work actually done for the Liberal Party, and giving large donations -- in cash -- to the Liberal Party through Renaud or Liberal Party organizer (and close associate of Public Works Minister Alfonso Gagliano) Joe Morselli.
Protection Racket?
Towards the later part of the sponsorship program, the friends and associates of Public Works Minister and former ambassador to Denmark Alfonso Gagliano, some of whom have been linked to organized crime, played a larger role in the schemes.
At one point, Gagliano associate Tony Mignacca told Brault that if he didn’t rehire Renaud (who had left Groupaction to start a new company), he would lose his newly acquired contract with Via Rail -- Canada’s state-run passenger rail service. Brault broke down in tears after he recounted this testimony. At a meeting in 2001 with Joe Morselli, Brault said that he arranged to have the meeting in an overheated room in a restaurant -- so that Brault could ask Morselli to take off his coat and ensure that he wasn’t carrying a body pack.
This is just the beginning of Brault's testimony. If the Gomery Commission can corroborate Brault, then the reek of corruption goes through all levels of the Liberal party and may explain their ability to out-campaign the Conservatives. After all, they've siphoned off hundreds of millions of government dollars to promote their own party and to guarantee their monopoly on power. They hijacked the Canadian tax base to fund their own campaigns and hide the financial trail.
More will be forthcoming, but it isn't difficult to understand why Liberal politicians have begun to panic already.
http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/004220.php