Advertising scandal hits Canadian PM

[emad]

By David Usborne
14 April 2005


Paul Martin, the Canadian Prime Minister, is fighting to stave off the collapse of his 10-month-old minority Liberal government amid a financial corruption scandal described by commentators as the worst in the country's history.

The crisis, spawned in part when a US internet blog published testimony last week from court hearings which had been shrouded by a blanket media ban, worsened last night when one of Mr Martin's parliamentary members defected to become an independent.

Recent polls have shown falling support for the Liberals as details of the scandal have unfolded. The Conservative party - the main opposition - is attracting greater support and its leader, Stephen Harper, has been consulting advisers about forcing an election.

The US blog, Captain's Quarters, forced the presiding judge, Justice John Gomery, to lift his media ban on testimony from a witness, the head of a Quebec-based advertising firm.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=629161

[HEyHEY]

1. Yes sir, never a dull moment up here

None of this would have happened if the NHL strike had been averted. Then no one would be paying attention.

[yvr girl]

2. lol

Especially now, with the second season almost here. :cry:

[whistle]

3. I'll bet Paul Martin wishes he had the red/orange/yellow/blue/green

...terror alert system, eh?

[MrPrax]

4. It's kinda funny...

seeing the 'scandal' reported outside of the country--a US blog!! is the culprit.

[daleo]

5. Conservatives haven't really gained much traction over this.

Liberal support has tended to go to the leftist alternative, the NDP, in polls. Most voters recall the last federal Conservative government led by Brian Mulroney, which was up to its eyeballs in scandals. Not to mention the fact that the Harper Conservatives are a poor fit with Canada's general political culture.

[Spazito]

6. Wow, what a slanted and selective article!

The scandal, far from being newly discovered as is intimated in this article, has been known for over a year and was the reason the Liberals were only able to form a minority government.

As to the US blog 'forcing' Justice Gomery to lift his ban, what a crock that is. The Canadian media had requested a lifting of the ban prior to the blog, which aided someone in Canada to breach Canadian law and unethically report the testimony of one of the witnesses and Gomery had said he would decide after the testimony how much of the testimony could be made public and not affect the witness's upcoming criminal trial. Gomery did exactly that, look at the testimony and then release that which did not directly relate to the criminal trial.

The scandal IS big in Canada but it would be refreshing if the media outside of Canada would make an attempt, at least, to get the facts. A forlorn hope on my part, for sure.

[glarius]

8. WELL SAID!!!!

:)

[applegrove]

9. Yes - the sense I get from the article is that there is some kool-aid

somewhere. Canadians are less likely to vote for Harper now that we know health care is part of their hidden agenda.

I thought the PM showed in the House of Commons yesterday that the issues during the election would be much more fundamental than a spending scandal from a previous administration.

Everyone knows that political people have lunch all day long with people who they neither know or care to know.

This will not stick on Martin.

[glarius]

7. I'll bet we could come up with worse scandals than this if we wanted to!

This is a bit overblown, I do believe....The polls all show that though Canadians are mad at the facts coming out in the Gomery Commission, they overwhelmingly DON'T WANT ANOTHER ELECTION CALLED NOW!......Stephen Harper (I can't stand the opportunistic bastard) is counting his chickens a little early!

[kypper]

10. as he did last time

and he'll lose. Again.