Canada's Liberal Party Sink or Swim - (The Sponsorship Scandal)
Published May 09, 2005
The Sponsorship Scandal started when the last Prime Minister, Jean Chretien was still in power. It seems that they passed more business on to liberal supporters than anyone else, this along with fundraising practices are being examined. The Gommery Inquiry has been set up to delve into just what has been going on.
The public inquiry was commissioned February 10, 2004, by Prime Minister Paul Martin to determine who is at fault; illuminate how these agencies were selected; document all funds incoming and outgoing and to other circumstances relating to sponsorship from the government.
The inquiry is named after Justice John Gommery, who is heading it and is from the Quebec Superior Court. The commission itself and Justice Gommery have the power to hold public hearings, call witnesses that are either a part of the government of not, issue interim reports to the public when feasible and the report itself is due out by December, 2005. The mandate of the inquiry is to find out who initiated the sponsorship program, whether cabinet ministers and other bureaucrats followed procedure and broke any rules.
The RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police have been looking into fraud allegations against the Liberal party.
Many people have been called to testify over this. This is a scandal the Liberals can ill afford as they are low in the opinion polls and other parties are clamouring for an election (which may happen at the earliest during the summer) no matter what the outcome of the inquiry. All in all, now that this has come to light, Canada's political situation is quite a mess!
- Canada's Liberal Party Sink or Swim - (The Sponsorship Scandal)
- Published: May 09, 2005
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Politics
- Filed Under: Politics: International
- Writer: Cher Gruener
- Cher Gruener's BC Writer page
- Cher Gruener's personal site
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Comments on this articleComments
RJ, you might want to actually study a little bit about Canadian politics before you start pronouncing on the nightmare of "Leftist Canadians".
The Tories might (emphasis on the "might") pull off a victory in the next election, not due to the popular support of their agenda, but due to absolute disgust with the Liberal Party's actions, now unveiled through the Gomery Commission.
Given that the Liberals will probably see support erode on the left wing of the party (with voters switching to the NDP) and on the right wing (with voters shifting to the Tories), you might see the Liberals turfed out. The thing to remember is that the Conservative leader Stephen Harper is not popular or perceived well in either the Maritime provinces, Quebec or most of Ontario. His electoral success will hinge on whether he can convince Ontarians that he is not still "a right-wing nutbar/Reform Party redneck".
As for getting close to GW Bush - are you nuts? If one thing can lose the election for Harper, it will be equating the present public lack of support for the Liberals with agreeing with a strong right-wing agenda.
Harper needs to hit a slightly right, populist central position to win points in Ontario...and I don't think he can portray that position very well, based on his track record.
Most likely outcome: Conservative Minority government with the Tories hostage to the Bloc Quebecois for power....not a recipe for long-term success.
I agree totally with Dean.
In fact, I think we may be seeing the seeds being planted for the breakup of Canada.
Why?
If the Conservatives win even a minority gov't, they will not be able to convince Quebecers to stay in Canada. The Quebec Liberal gov't will lose to the Provincial Bloc party, possibly to be led by Gilles Ducepe, the popular leader of the Federal Bloc party.
Should the Bloc decide to hold a referendum in Quebec about leaving Canada, the Conservative Federal gov't will not be able to convince Quebecers to stay.
Once Quebec declares sovereignty, the Maritimes will be isolated physically from the rest of Canada. Will they consolidate as one country? Will Newfoundland be able to tear up their terrible hydro deal with Quebec that gurantees Quebec cheap electricity? The electricity is sooo cheap that Quebec turns around and exports it.
Will Alberta declare sovereignty and go it alone as the the single state in North America with the best economy, and the only one to be debt free?
Will all this potential excitement result in ecomonic catastrophy for Canadians?
Interesting times lay ahead.
While I would love to see Canuckistan torn to pieces, with Alberta joining the US as the 51st state, and Quebec as a sovereign nation, this is HIGHLY unlikely.
More likely is a victory for the Conservative Party, and a government more friendly to the US, particularly on missile defense.
If you want to send a clear message to the politicians of Canada that Canadians won't stand for corruption in the government, try:
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I'm almost 18 i have no idea really about whats going on with liberals and conservitives and the whole bit.... i want to be able to make educated decisions when it comes my time to vote... i'm wondering if anyone has a brief breakdown of our government.
"I believe a nightmare is about to occur for Leftist Canucks..."
- RJ Elliott
Yeah, those Leftist Canucks are far worse than those Rightist Chickenhawks.
Dion and his Liberal Party are flat broke and the Liberals want an election to dump Dion.
Elections should not be about covering the bills of the Liberal Party or them trying to replace a failed leader.
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/29236)
I believe a nightmare is about to occur for Leftist Canucks: A Conservative Party victory, followed by more friendly relations with GW Bush and the US...