The Toronto Free Press reports that Canadian Adscam and Gomery probe witnesses Jean Brault, Paul Coffin and Chuck Guité have cut a deal with prosecutors in the Paul Martin Government:

In a conference call with Liberal riding association executives Monday, Paul Martin’s Quebec lieutenant Jean Lapierre offered an insight into why Gomery probe witnesses Jean Brault, Paul Coffin and Chuck Guité have suddenly been blessed with astounding powers of total recall. According to several people, who dialed into the conference call, Lapierre confirmed that all three men have cut a deal with prosecutors.

The blurt attributed to the federal transport minister and Outremont MP is disturbing for a number of reasons, beginning with how he knows. Judge John Gomery’s judicial inquiry into misspending and corruption within the Public Works ministry’s advertising sponsorship program is supposed to be at arm’s length from both the federal government and the Liberal Party of Canada, so if in fact Lapierre said what he is alleged to have said, it signals that the deal is common knowledge within the Martin government and the party.

Far more disturbing is the impression that the Martin Liberals felt they could stage-manage Gomery. Brault, Guité and Coffin were charged with various counts of fraud and conspiracy prior to the probe getting underway.

Under the terms of Gomery’s mandate, nobody can be prosecuted on the basis of testimony delivered at the inquiry, so if the RCMP decides to proceed

against anyone named in testimony, they have to start afresh–and if anybody knows whether the Gomery lawyers will give up their evidence to further the RCMP’s probe, they’re not saying. But according to one of our sources, a Liberal fundraiser named in recent testimony, told us the Gomery commission’s lawyers are upset at the narrowness of their mandate. He’s under the impression that Gomery’s legalists now propose to stretch their investigation far beyond the mandate that Paul Martin and Justice Minister Irwin Cotler had originally envisioned.

Ever hear of a runaway judicial inquiry?

This week, while Coffin and Guité were testifying against the backdrop of an on-again, off-again publication ban, Gomery lawyers were interviewing next week’s witness, former Liberal Party of Canada Quebec director-general Benoît Corbeil. It was inevitable; Corbeil has already given interviews to both Montreal’s La Presse and the Globe and Mail in which he’s said people in Martin’s government and with Quebec Premier Jean Charest’s Liberals received cash from Brault. This is the closest Gomery has come to recognizing that those tagged by Brault’s free-form flow of unsubstantiated testimony deserve the right to defend themselves.

No wonder Martin gave Canadians that Beaten-Man performance, followed up by an unprecedented spending spree in Ontario…..

Read the rest here.

A few questions to ask Judge Gomery:

The Globe and Mail has this story on former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien:

PHILADELPHIA — Former prime minister Jean Chrétien defended his handling of the sponsorship scandal last night, as he made his first public appearance since testifying at the Gomery inquiry.

In Philadelphia to accept an award as an “international role model” from a gay-rights group, Mr. Chrétien said he would not comment on the political fallout from the scandal, with the current minority Liberal government teetering on the brink of a new election and the separatist Bloc Québécois poised to sweep his home province.

“For me, I don’t comment on anything political since I quit,” he said on his way into the Equality Forum dinner. “A former prime minister doesn’t . . . I’m a Liberal and if there is an election, I will vote Liberal with pleasure, but I don’t comment on it…”

Captain Ed over at Captain’s Quarters says that Chrétien has played the Gay card:

The American gay-rights group Equality Forum has to win an award itself for the worst political timing in years in choosing to honor Chrétien. With even his own party’s leadership abandoning his legacy as the chain of corruption creeps ever further towards his office, holding Chrétien up as a role model for gay rights would have its American equivalent in making Richard Nixon the poster boy for environmental activism in government for his creation of the EPA and support of the Endangered Species Act. Both may have solid bases in the historical record, and neither man will be remembered for it. Chrétien will be fortunate indeed if he escapes prosecution for Adscam, hardly a qualification for an international role model.

However, the Equality Forum did give Chrétien a chance to trot out a new defense for the Liberal Party against an expected no-confidence vote by Stephen Harper and the Tories. The former PM used the occasion to turn the election issue away from rampant Liberal corruption and graft into a gay-rights issue instead…

…This attempt to spin Adscam into a gay-rights issue is not only desperate, it’s laughable. It shows that Chrétien and his former party may have reached a point where the only defense left to them is an American-style smear campaign against their accusers on baseless and irrelevant grounds of bigotry.

Of course, Chrétien does want to comment on blatant corruption in the Liberal Party and his government.

Look for his indictment after the fraud trials of Brault, Coffin and Guite.

Don’t you think they will give up their own boss to save their own asses?

You betcha!

Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin today in an interview with the Globe and Mail squarely placed the blame on:

1. Bloc Québécois

2. The Conservative Party

3. Ex-sponsorship boss Chuck Guite, and ad executives Jean Brault and Paul Coffin among many

for the crisis that threatens to divide Canada and bring down the federal government.

The piece continues:

Prime Minister Paul Martin acknowledged yesterday the sponsorship scandal has boosted support for separation in Quebec, but suggested that Mr. Justice John Gomery’s report will exonerate the federalist cause.

And Mr. Martin suggested that the Conservatives will face a backlash if they help the Bloc Québécois “accomplish their agenda” by defeating his government now, before Judge Gomery can identify the guilty parties.

In an interview with The Globe and Mail, the Prime Minister said he believes testimony at the Gomery inquiry is one reason 54 per cent of Quebeckers say they support sovereignty, according to a Leger Marketing poll this week.

“I think that there is a relationship,” Mr. Martin said.

“I am very convinced that if Judge Gomery is allowed to report and basically targets those people who engaged in unacceptable activities, that Quebeckers will see very quickly that these were not federalists, these were simply people who acted for themselves.”

Mr. Martin said the Conservatives will turn federalists off if they work with the Bloc.

Mr. Prime Minister stop the lame excuses and conspiracy theories.

Resign now and call for new elections!

Chuck Guite, former head of the government sponsorship program, ponders questioning as he is cross-examined at the Gomery inquiry in Ottawa last November.

The National Post of Canada reports that Chuck Guite, head of the Canadian Federal Sponsorship program has begun to testify in the Gomery Inquiry:

Chuck Guite, the man who ran the federal sponsorship program between 1997 and 1999, began testifying at the Gomery inquiry on Thursday.

But with Guite’s testimony subject to a publication ban, Canadians will likely have to wait until early next week to find out what he has told the inquiry.

The ban issued by presiding judge John Gomery also covered the testimony of ad executives Jean Brault and Paul Coffin but was lifted in part after they had finished.

Brault, Coffin and Guite all must stand trial on fraud-related charges arising from the sponsorship program.

Guite has been charged with six counts of fraud and conspiracy related to an alleged scheme with Brault linked to federal gun registry contracts.

In his first appearance before Gomery, last fall in Ottawa, Guite sparked controversy by pointing a finger of blame firmly at his political masters.

He claimed that former public works minister Alfonso Gagliano and Jean Pelletier, chief of staff to then-prime minister Jean Chretien, knew exactly what he was up to in distributing sponsorship cash in the 90s.

Gagliano and Pelletier denied the allegations, saying they gave “advice” but never issued orders on how sponsorship money should be doled out or which ad firms should get a piece of the pie.

With a publication ban in place we may have to wait to discover the details of this testimony.

Stay tuned.

The Globe and Mail reports that Justice Gomery has partially lifted the publication ban on a deposition given by Paul Coffin so that the testimony would not prejudice his June trial for fraud. The Inquiry today heard and his testimony emphasized how regular government procurement rules were flouted in the program:

-Mr. Coffin’s firm twice was retained by bureaucrats to act as a front and pretend to do work that was in fact farmed out to BCP, a Liberal-friendly firm, and Gingko Group, an ineligible ad agency

–Mr. Coffin lied in his application to get his firm, Communication Coffin, selected as one of the agencies managing federal sponsorships. And the very day his agency was selected, he received hefty federal contracts right away

–He agreed with Judge Gomery’s suggestion that he submitted deceptive invoices at the request of Chuck Guité, the bureaucrat who ran the sponsorship program, as a way to circumvent the normal tender process.

Read the remaining article here.

Captain Ed over at Captain’s Quarter’s has this piece on today’s testimony:

Coffin’s testimony shows that the corruption extended so far into the government that even the career bureaucrats understood the scam and furthered it on behalf of the Liberals. Coffin received plenty of cash for his front in the scam; he received $86,000 just to secretly redirect work to Groupe BCP. He also picked up almost twice that amount to serve as a beard for Gingko, an agency that never received certification to do government contracts.

Guité has plenty to worry about if Coffin keeps going in this direction. Guité is the only government employee facing corruption charges — at least so far — and Coffin apparently dealt closely with him. Coffin, in fact, submitted fictitious invoices on a regular basis, apparently encouraged to do so by Guité in order to make sure that the Sponsorship Program money had been thoroughly fleeced. Canadians will be surprised to learn that not only did Liberal Party functionaries loot the program, but they conscientiously went back over the books to ensure that every last dime went out the door and into the waiting pockets of Liberal cronies.

Coffin continues his testimony tomorrow. Guité has to wonder what more damage he can possibly do.

Indeed

Canadian PM Paul Martin, afraid that a no confidence vote would topple his government has cancelled an over seas trip to the Netherlands and Moscow. CNews has the story here:

Worried that the opposition may force an election next week, Prime Minister Paul Martin has cancelled a trip overseas.

Martin was to have visited the Netherlands and Moscow May 7-9 to mark the 60th anniversary of their liberation during the Second World War.

But a spokeswoman said Monday that Martin is concerned about the potential for a non-confidence motion against his government and wants to stay in Canada.

“With the Conservatives and the Bloc Quebecois threatening to force an election, it makes best sense to ensure that the prime minister is here at home and available to Parliament,” said Melanie Gruer.

“Lots of things are happening these days, so it makes sense that he’s home.

“Secondarily, he’s been wanting to attend the opening of the new war museum.”

The new Canadian War Museum opens May 8 in Ottawa.

Flap wouldn’t leave the country either.

The NEW government might not let him return without handcuffs and leg shackles!

Former Sponsorship boss Chuck Guite and a leading witness will soon take the stand at the Gomery Inquiry and Justice Gomery has again imposed a publication ban:

MONTREAL (CP) – A key player in the sponsorship scandal saddling Paul Martin’s Liberal government appears before the Gomery inquiry this week, but a publication ban will temporarily keep the contents under wraps.

Former sponsorship boss Chuck Guite could testify as early as Wednesday about his role in controlling sponsorship funds during an era when rules and laws were allegedly broken and money was funnelled to middlemen for little work.

But inquiry justice John Gomery, in a bid to protect a potential jury pool, has slapped a publication ban on Guite’s testimony, which could run until early next week.

The ban applies as well to testimony by ad man Paul Coffin, who also faces trial and is scheduled to take the stand on Tuesday.

The judge will hear arguments from various lawyers, including those from the media, before deciding whether to lift the ban following testimony by each of the men.

Current and former prominent politicians could be implicated directly if Guite spills the beans on his political masters, including former public works minister Alfonso Gagliano.

Guite, who was described by Gomery before Christmas as a “charming scamp,” has already said his elected bosses cleared every move he made while running the sponsorship program in the 1990s and had the final say in every spending decision.

He has also said he dealt directly with ex-prime minister Jean Chretien’s chief of staff, Jean Pelletier, when discussing sponsorship matters in 1996.

Gagliano, Chretien and Prime Minister Paul Martin all denied in the Ottawa phase of the inquiry that they knew about any wrongdoing or controlled where the sponsorship money went.

The sponsorship inquiry drew international headlines earlier this month after Gomery lifted a publication ban on testimony by ad man Jean Brault of Groupaction Marketing.

Brault blew the whistle on an alleged conspiracy with top federal Liberal officials to secretly funnel $1.1 million to the party in exchange for sponsorship contracts.

The allegations have thrust all parties into election mode. The Bloc Quebecois and the Conservatives appear favourable to toppling the government and forcing a spring election.

Many of the details of Brault’s testimony had been leaked to a U.S. blog site before the ban was lifted, allowing Canadians to read the forbidden details and making the contents the subject of innuendo on Parliament Hill.

While Guite approved massive commissions pocketed by Brault and other sponsorship middlemen, it isn’t clear whether he knew about the alleged scheme to fatten Liberal coffers.

Brault and Guite are to be tried together on fraud and conspiracy related to sponsorship contracts. Jury selection in the trial will begin June 6 after a judge decided the original date of May 2 was too close to his appearance at the sponsorship inquiry.

Coffin faces 18 counts of fraud in a separate trial for allegedly submitting fake and inflated invoices totalling almost $2 million in sponsorship contracts.

Chuck Guite, the public works official who ran the federal sponsorship program until 1999, faces questioning this week.

Captain Ed over at Captain’s Quarters opines:

…Gomery’s publication ban only applied, of course, to rebroadcasting the specifics of Jean Brault’s testimony. If one was either fortunate or well-connected, seats were available for the public hearing in which Brault testified to accepting and making bribes and kickbacks in exchange for contract renewals, as well as hiring Liberal Party workers who never performed any work at all for Brault — but spent their time on party business, off the books.

Politicians will know the specific testimony of the two witnesses at the end of each day, if not almost in real time. Some media sources will watch and hear Guité and Coffin tell everything they know about Adscam and the politicians who profited most from it on live TV feeds that they will be barred from rebroadcast. The only people left in the dark will be those Canadians who have seen their money stolen by the people they trusted to wield power lawfully.

As part of the ‘imperfection’ mentioned tangentially in the Montreal Gazette, I had hoped that the brouhaha over my publication of Brault’s testimony would have convinced Justice Gomery of the folly of publication bans. Apparently not. If my original source can get me reliable information on the testimony under the ban, I will republish it again here.

So, is Justice Gomery trying to stir up media attention again? Or is he really serious about preserving fair trials? Or bringing down the Liberal Party and Canadian Government?

Probably the latter rather than the former.