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February 8, 2005
Chrétien off to a good start
Jean Chrétien's opening statement to the Gomery Inquiry into AdScam showed he hasn't lost his touch. The former Prime Minister's lengthy monologue put forward the case for the maligned Sponsorship Program in the context of the time when it was conceived. Mr. Chrétien also made it clear that any malfeasance should be punished but pointedly avoided addressing the allegations of political influence.
"Those mistakes that were made in good faith can be excused," Mr. Chrétien said. "Any that were made in bad faith are inexcusable. If some people acted in bad faith or for personal gain, they betrayed the prime minister, they betrayed my government and they betrayed the country."
The former Prime Minister's statement was a good start. He showed the style to which we became so accustomed in his ten years as PM. Mr. Chrétien went on the attack, criticising those characterizing the program as partisan and saying that there are no "Liberal-friendly" ad firms. They are instead "federalist-friendly" ad firms. He went on to say that those firms helped whatever federalist party was in power in Ottawa.
That suggestion is going to be put to the test, one assumes, as he is examined by the many lawyers participating in the inquiry. The former PM had better have the evidence to back it up.
Posted by maxthecat on February 8, 2005 at 10:43 AM | Comments (0)
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