Gomery left with task of finding those responsible
It is hard not to agree with federal opposition leader Stephen Harper when he asks if Canadians should be expected to believe former Prime Minister Jean Chretien and current Prime Minister Paul Martin when they say they didn't really know what was going on with the Sponsorship program? How can we?rnThe probe into the Sponsorship Scandal, one of the worst examples of political corruption in Canadian history, heated up last week as both Chretien and Martin went before the Gomery Inquiry, which is charged with finding out who is really responsible for millions of dollars that were spent lining the pockets of Liberal-friendly ad agencies.
Chretien was first to testify, and in true Chretien-fashion he was able to put the inquiry on its heels as he mocked them with golf balls from other world leaders. For the most part, Chretien shed very little light on what went wrong, but he did manage to take yet another shot at Martin by telling the inquiry that the then finance minister was involved in the early decision making process when the program was first set up. Martin, of course, denied any knowledge or responsibility for what happened with the sponsorship program.
However, while both men went into detail about how government really works and why Prime Ministers and Cabinet Ministers are there to provide the direction, but not the substance of the running the country, we can't help but be disgusted.
If it is true, which we don't believe for a second, what a shameful system of governance we have. Elected officials have a responsibility to know where the taxpayers' money is being spent, not just to provide philosophical leadership.
However, in this case, there is absolutely no way either man didn't know what was happening. This was the brainchild of the most powerful politicians of the country, and no one will ever believe they didn't play key roles in how it was administered.
Hopefully that will also be the finding of Justice Gomery, who has been given the massive task of holding those responsible accountable.
