Georgina · East Gwillimbury · King  .
 
Bradford West Gwillimbury · Innisfil  .

Ottawa is buzzing with news of the latest revelations in evidence at the Gomery Inquiry into the Liberal Sponsorship Scandal. But it is news that I (and the Innisfil Enterprise) cannot share with you. At least not yet. That’s because, at the request of witnesses facing upcoming criminal prosecution, a publication ban on their evidence has been imposed.

The purpose of the publication ban is to ensure a fair trial. The risk is that sensational media attention so impresses the public, that potential jurors will have already formed opinions, even before hearing the evidence in the criminal trial.

That a publication ban has been involved is a fair indication that the evidence being given is probably quite sensational.

That being said, this sensational evidence is not being given in secret – the parties to the inquiry, public and media are there to hear it all. So there are lots of people who know what evidence has been revealed, and the word of mouth has been spreading all over Ottawa. This has been further fueled by the availability of some information on American websites, beyond the reach of the publication ban.

My phone started ringing shortly after news reports of “sensational explosive evidence” under the publication ban started appearing in the media. While I could not fill people in on the actual evidence, it demonstrated to me that – contrary to media assumptions – interest in the sponsorship scandal is very high in English Canada. Certainly it has started the political parties scrambling to get ready for an election. The rumour taking hold was that the Liberal Party would engineer a quick election to shut down the evidence at the Inquiry, before the information could be made public. Theory has it that the Liberals would like the vote before Judge Gomery could make his findings (anticipated sometime this autumn).

It is all a remarkable turnaround for the Inquiry. After the evidence of politicians in Ottawa, many in the media were (encouraged by Liberal spin) ready to question this Inquiry’s value. Nobody would dare to do that now.

In fact, the yawns that greeted the evidence from the Liberal politicians and staff during the Ottawa phase is really an indication of how smooth and effective they have become in operating schemes like the Sponsorship Program in their partisan interests, without being exposed or held accountable. Repeatedly, the Liberals have stonewalled, “toughing out” scandals from APEC and the Somalia Inquiry, through to recent scandals like Judy Sgro’s preferential immigration treatment for strippers and campaign workers.

But with the Montreal phase of the Gomery Inquiry, even before the publication ban was invoked, there has been ample evidence of illegal contributions to the Liberal Party and of systemic efforts to divert money from the Sponsorship Program to Liberal coffers.

In Question Period I have called on the Liberal to return these funds – a call that has been disregarded to date.

But there is no longer any reason to wonder why Liberals like Jean Chretien had their lawyers try to shut down the Gomery Inquiry, and attack Justice Gomery. In fact, they have an application to the courts for his removal.

And in the desperation department, this past week, the Liberal Party lawyer rose to new heights of arrogance – describing the Liberal Party as a “victim” of the corruption in the sponsorship scandal. I guess when you’ve governed unchallenged for a decade, and felt above the law, being called to account for once makes the Liberals feel victimized.

But this time it appears Canadians do want to hold the Liberals accountable for what is now clearly the most shocking scandal in Canadian political history. The systemic corruption revealed in this sponsorship scandal has shown Canadians that we do need change for the better.

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