Posted on 05/04/2005 2:13:58 PM PDT by fanfan
Newly-released testimony by the retired bureaucrat who ran the federal sponsorship program reveals Chuck Guite as unafraid to name others he believes acted inappropriately.
A Quebec judge has lifted his brief ban on publication of testimony by the retired bureaucrat who ran the federal sponsorship program.
Guite had been testifying before Gomery's inquiry into the now-defunct program since last week, but details of his testimony had been protected by a temporary gag order.
On Wednesday afternoon, Gomery lifted his ban -- opening the door to publication of what Guite has been saying behind closed doors. A Quebec Superior Court judge overseeing Guite's criminal trial also lifted his ban.
After being implicated by so many witnesses since the commission began, it appears Guite has decided not to go down alone.
Throughout his week testifying in Montreal, Guite named names, including the prime minister's.
Guite testified that back in 2000, he was told that then-finance minister Paul Martin had intervened to ensure a Liberal-friendly ad firm wouldn't lose its lucrative contracts with the federal sponsorship program.
Guite had already left the civil service by then, and was lobbying the government on behalf of the Toronto-based advertising agency Vickers and Benson Ltd.
Hoping to secure the future of his firm's ad contracts with Ottawa, Guite said he had lunch with his former boss, Public Works Minister Alfonso Gagliano.
"He said he'd look after it," Guite told the commission.
A week later, Guite says he got a call from Gagliano's chief of staff, Pierre Tremblay.
"The minister had spoken with both ministers and the volume of business would be maintained," Guite testified. He claimed he was assured Vicker's contracts with two federal departments -- Industry under John Manley and Finance under Paul Martin -- were safe.
Martin and Manley have issued statements denying the allegations.
The Prime Minister's Office issued this statment: ''There was never a discussion between Mr. Martin and Mr. Gagliano with respect to ensuring that any individual supplier receive contracts from the government of Canada. The prime minister never involved himself in the contracting process -- he never involved himself in the determination of contract awards. Period."
Corroborating Guite's testimony is complicated by the fact Tremblay died last year.
Guite also claimed ad contracts were routinely handed out to reward ad agencies that did election work for the Liberals.
"It was politically driven," he said, explaining that he was constantly being told to help out the party's friends such as ad executive Jacques Corriveau.
Accused of exploiting a personal relationship with former prime minister Jean Chretien, Corriveau has denied the two were close.
But in his testimony, Guite said that in 1994, then-public works minister David Dingwall told him a different story.
"If you ever meet someone in bed between Jean Chretien and his wife, it'll be Corriveau," recalling Dingwall's remarks. "His comment was, you'll look after him."
In the broad sweep of his testimony, Guite even suggested Chretien's wife wielded influence over the sponsorship program.
Guite told the commission that Aline Chretien chose some of the promotional items purchased by the government. Guite said she pointed out her favourite watch, that he promptly ordered.
"We used to refer to those as Madame Chretien's watches."
Other details of Guite's sensational testimony include:
* Corroboration of previous witnesses' depositions alleging Gagliano had personally requested sponsorship program funding for a plaque-unveiling event in Italy. "I had the request from the minister's office, the minister actually, to get that done with the specific instruction: `Make sure there's no paper trail' ," Guite said, recalling that the $6,850 project did not necessarily fall under the program's purview. "This was a plaque done for the minister's own `pride,' for lack of better term," he added. * The suggestion that the hiring of his successor was rigged -- at the behest of Gagliano and Chretien's then-chief of staff Jean Pelletier -- to ensure that Pierre Tremblay would get the job. Tremblay, who had been Gagliano's top aide, was unqualified for the position, Guite said. Although he died in 2004, before making his own appearance before the inquiry, Tremblay had previously admitted to federal auditors that the sponsorship program was mismanaged. * An account of sponsorship money being used to fund a Vickers pet project -- the 26-part TV series Dashan & Friends in Canada, that aired in China at a cost of $10 million. "The China project from start to finish was strictly politically-driven in funding," Guite testified, saying that the project was given the go-ahead by two of Chretien's most senior aides.
Besides his sensational allegations, Guite also admitted breaking a lot of rules.
Despite a contract stipulation that he could not profit from government contracts in the first year after he left the civil service, Guite says Vickers paid him $100,000 to lobby his former boss.
"There are different ways to skin the cat," he told the commission, explaining how he advised the company on ways to skirt the rules.
Credibility challenged
Lawyers who cross examined Guite questioned his credibility.
When asked why he should be believed, Guite simply shrugged.
Despite the seriousness of Guite's allegations, CTV reporter Jed Kahane says the embattled Liberals might find one "saving grace" in his testimony.
"Guite says the system was even more political when the Conservatives were in power," Kahane said.
Liberal promises to change that, Guite said, wound up producing new ways in which the government could look after its friends.
Alongside Groupaction Marketing founder Jean Brault, Guite is facing trial on six fraud-related counts arising from sponsorship deals.
Jury selection in their trial is slated to get underway in June, but lawyers for the pair have requested the trial be delayed until September.
Concern that testimony from the Gomery inquiry might prejudice potential jurors in their clients' cases, lawyers for Brault and Guite had argued that publication bans should remain until the trials are over.
With files from CTV's Jed Kahane in Montreal
Please let me know if you want on or off the Canada/Adscam ping list
Links from our sister site Free Dominion:
Charles Guite testimony during the Gomery Inquiry.
Note: All documents are in .PDF format which requires Adobe Acrobat Reader. It can be downloaded free from the Adobe website here http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
APRIL 28, 2005
http://gomery.irri.net/Apr%2028,%2005/gomery108apr2805PBREVISEDredacted.pdf
APRIL 29th, 2005
http://gomery.irri.net/Apr%2029,%2005/gomery109apr2905PB.pdf
MAY 2, 2005
http://gomery.irri.net/May%202,%2005/gomery110may0205PBredacted.pdf
MAY 3, 2005
http://gomery.irri.net/May%203,%2005/gomery111may0305PB.pdf
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.