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February 13, 2004

First, Stephane Dion, former Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and architect of the Clarity Act (that document that apparently is now seen as "useless" within the Quebec wing of the Liberal Party of Canada), makes it clear that Paul Martin was a part of weekly meetings between Quebec Cabinet Ministers that often talked about the sponsorship program in Quebec, and therefore was not "out of the loop" as he claimed earlier in the week. 

Now, it has now become public that Akaash Maharaj, an extremely well respected Liberal party activist and the party's former national policy chair, sent a letter in February, 2002 to then Finance Minister Paul Martin to make him aware of the "rumours" that were making the rounds.  This was well in advance of Auditor General Sheila Fraser beginning a formal investigation later that spring.

Those rumours turned into fact regarding the gross misconduct going on within the administration of the sponsorship program.  Mr. Maharaj had always been known as a serious, considerate and highly intelligent member of the party's national executive, and thus a letter of this magnitude containing such troubling allegations would have been taken seriously by Mr. Martin. 

Therefore, why Paul Martin would deny ever having any previous knowledge about the scandal now wreaking havoc on the government is beyond basic, common sense political logic.  With the release of these statements that unequivocally contradict the Prime Minister, one by a former Cabinet colleague and the other by a former high ranking Liberal party official, today won't be the only day that feels like Friday the 13^th for the government.

Comments? jonathan@tdhstrategies.com