INDEPTH: SPONSORSHIP SCANDAL
Gomery report: Major Findings
CBC News Online | November 1, 2005
The following list of findings is taken from the summary document of "Who is Responsible?" released Nov. 1, 2005 by the Commission of Inquiry into the Sponsorship Program and Advertising Activities. The Commission of Inquiry found: Clear evidence of political involvement in the administration of the Sponsorship Program.
Insufficient oversight at the very senior levels of the public service, which allowed program managers to circumvent proper contracting procedures and reporting lines.
A veil of secrecy surrounding the administration of the Sponsorship Program and an absence of transparency in the contracting process.
Reluctance, for fear of reprisal, by virtually all public servants to go against the will of a manager who was circumventing established policies and who had access to senior political officials.
Gross overcharging by communication agencies for hours worked and goods and services provided.
Inflated commissions, production costs and other expenses charged by communication agencies and their subcontractors, many of which were related businesses.
The use of the Sponsorship Program for the purposes other than national unity or federal visibility because of a lack of objectives, criteria and guidelines for the Program.
Deliberate actions to avoid compliance with federal legislation and policies, including the Canada Elections Act, Lobbyists Registration Act, the Access to Information Act and Financial Administration Act, as well as federal contracting policy.
A complex web of financial transactions among Public Works and Government Services Canada, Crown Corporations and communication agencies, involving kickbacks and illegal contributions to a political party in the context of the Sponsorship Program.
Five agencies that received large sponsorship contracts regularly channelling money, via legitimate donations or unrecorded cash gifts, to political fundraising activities in Quebec, with the expectation of receiving lucrative government contracts.
Certain agencies carrying on their payrolls individuals who were, in effect, working on Liberal Party matters.
The existence of a "culture of entitlement" among political officials and bureaucrats involved with the Sponsorship Program, including the receipt of monetary and non-monetary benefits.
A pattern of activity whereby a public servant in retirement did extensive business with former recipients of Sponsorship Program contracts.
The refusal of Ministers, senior officials in the Prime Minister's Office and public servants to acknowledge their responsibility for the problems of mismanagement that occurred.
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Justice John Gomery has released a preliminary report into Canada's Sponsorship Program, which was run from 1996 to 2003 by the federal Public Works Department to win support for federalism in Quebec. The program has recently come under fire for allegedly scandalous practices and has been accused of being a front to reward Liberal Party supporters. 

The issue came to a head in the spring of 2002, when the Globe and Mail, using Canada's Access to Information Act, discovered that $550,000 had been paid to Groupaction Marketing for a report that could not be located.

Former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien then ordered Auditor General Sheila Fraser to look into the matter, who promptly launched a full investigation with assistance from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. In 2004, Fraser's audit was released and found that over $100 million was incorrectly paid to communications agencies rather than for social and cultural events which was the original intention of the program.

According to Fraser, officials "broke just about every rule in the book."

Under intense criticism from both the public and opposition parties Prime Minister Paul Martin launched a public inquiry into the scandal which was to be headed by Justice Gomery.

The report found evidence of political involvement in the handling of the program, and found an "implicit link between the contributions and the expectation that the government contracts would be awarded."

The report also claims that Chrétien holds some personal responsibility for the mismanagement. "Since Mr. Chretien chose to run the program from his own office," the report reasoned "he is accountable for the defective manner in which the sponsorship program and initiatives were implemented."

Among those accused of wrongdoing are Jean Pelletier (Chrétien's former chief of staff),  Chuck Guité (the bureaucrat in charge the program), Jacques Corriveau (president of PluriDesign Canada), and Jean Brault (president of Groupaction).