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April 7, 2005

Gomery: Brault testimony revealed

Phantom employees, kickbacks and envelopes of cash greased the wheels of Liberals' Quebec wing

AdScam commissioner John Gomery lifted the publication ban on most of the testimony of Jean Brault, one of the advertising executives at the heart of the Sponsorship Scandal. The testimony outlines what, if Mr. Brault is to be believed, was an organized scheme to fund the activities of the Liberal Party's Quebec wing using taxpayers' money.

The Globe and Mail has the most detailed outline of Mr. Brault's testimony I have seen so far, but here are some of the lowlights:

  • Mr. Brault gave a Liberals a $400,000 donation in return for a commitment his company (Groupaction) would get $3-million in sponsorship contracts.
  • An operative of then-Public Works Minister Alphonso Gagliano made a veiled threat that Mr. Brault would lose his contracts if he didn't rehire a Liberal lobbyist he had fired.
  • Mr. Brault hired five Liberals at the request of party organizers. One was paid $500 per week and to be left "available for the party." Another (a former staffer of Environment Mininster Stephane Dion) was paid $7000 per month, was never seen in the office but was working on a biography of Mr. Gagliano. A third was paid $8000 per month and is now Chief of Staff to Heritage Minister Liza Frulla.
  • In addition to the hiring of staff for the Liberals, the Party also asked him to make large cash contributions to the party, some of which were left on chairs and restaurant tables to be collected when he left the room.
  • Mr. Brault was asked to funnel 10% of his sponsorship commissions to the Liberals by Jacques Corriveau, a close confidant of former Prime Minister of Jean Chrétien.
  • In return for his troubles, Mr. Brault received $172-million in contracts from the Government of Canada.

It should be noted that this is just the testimony of one witness and is not proof of Liberal corruption. However, it lends weight to the testimony of others and together paints a picture that will be hard for the Liberals to shake.

Posted by maxthecat on April 7, 2005 at 04:40 PM | Comments (0) | Printer-friendly version
Filed in: Politics / Canada

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