Liberals facing contract scandals

OTTAWA (PoliticsWatch posted October 3, 2002 @ 5:30 p.m.) The Liberal Cabinet is once again in the centre of an ethical controversy, with Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and Solicitor-General Lawrence MacAulay as the targets.  

During today's question period Progressive Conservative leader Joe Clark brought back last spring's advertising and sponsorship scandal where civil servants were allegedly told to bend the rules on tendering contracts. The scandal surrounding the 1995 Quebec referendum campaign surrounds officials in the Privy Council Office who oversaw a plan to boost Canada's image. 

According to a former senior civil servant, the plan allegedly avoided the open, competitive tender process for promotion contracts. Three of the contracts awarded to Groupaction Marketing in Montreal are being investigated by the RCMP at the request of Auditor General Sheila Fraser.

Bloc Quebecois MP Michel Gauthier suggested in House that Chrétien gave his support to the officials involved. Public Works Minister Ralph Goodale would not talk about the specifics of the case because it's still being investigated by the RCMP. 

"There have been processes put in place to make sure that all of this is investigated," Goodale said in a scrum. "Matters in relation to this have been referred to the RCMP... I hope the investigation will indicate everything was appropriate, but it's up to police to investigate."

Clark called on the Chrétien to reveal his involvement in the contract scandal.

"Some minister made this decision or someone reporting to a minister," Clark said in a scrum. "And we have a right to know where the Prime Minister was. He can't be passing the blame to someone else." 

Also in the House, the Canadian Alliance accused MacAulay of giving a sole-sourced contract worth $140,000 to his official campaign manager in the last two federal elections. The contract was allegedly awarded to accountant Everett Roche in May 2001 for justice and communications advice. It was extended again this year and will expire March 2003.

Under Treasury Board guidelines, the bidding process on a contract can be skipped if there is a pressing emergency, the contract is under $25,000, it's not in public interest to solicit bids, or only one person or firm is capable of doing the work. 

Furthermore, Alliance solicitor-general Kevin Sorenson said the accountant was paid for a full year but never produced any reports for the government.

During Question Period today, MacAulay said he would get more information on the matter before reporting to the House. 

This latest scandal has Alliance leader Stephen Harper comparing it to a similar situation involving former defense minister Art Eggleton for awarding an untendered contract to an ex-girlfriend. He was subsequently ousted from Cabinet. 

"We'll wait to hear the explanation but obviously today Mr. McCauly was unwilling to give an explanation but he was unwilling to answer even simple questions or will he admit if he was aware of some aspect of the contract," Harper said in a scrum. "So this sounds to me very much like the situation with Mr. Eggleton. But we'll see. I think Mr. McCauly has a lot to explain in the next 24 hours. He better be in House tomorrow with explanations."

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 Auditor General to investigate Groupaction contracts