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Martin to field questions today on Cross Country Checkup

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Feb. 15, 2004. 08:40 AM
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PM about to get an earful
Martin to field questions today on Cross Country Checkup
Star readers are demanding answers on sponsorship scandal

LES WHITTINGTON
OTTAWA BUREAU

OTTAWA—Embattled Paul Martin will field questions from a live national radio audience today as part of a two-day public-speaking blitz intended to help the Liberals regain political momentum after a disastrous week.

With his party's poll numbers plunging as a result of the sponsorship scandal, the Prime Minister will confront what is likely to be an outpouring of public anger — similar to the reactions of enraged Star readers below — over revelations of possible corruption in a $250-million program meant to promote federalism in Quebec in the 1990s.

Martin will join host Rex Murphy on CBC Radio's Cross Country Checkup at 4 p.m. today in an attempt to convince Canadians his government is serious about putting an end to the patronage and misuse of taxpayers' money that occurred while Liberal prime minister Jean Chrétien was in power.

The government has launched a Commons committee probe and a judicial inquiry into the sponsorship program and asked a top lawyer to see if misallocated funds can be recovered.

Star readers, too, think Martin has much to answer for. A selection drawn from the Star's Web site provides a glimpse into what Canadians want to know:

"Paul Martin is a business executive and therefore knows about financial controls in organizations. He should immediately bring in all the financial controls possible to prevent such fraud and theft and waste in the future."

Mike Bush, Toronto

"These people seem to have forgotten who they work for, and who they are accountable to: the voter. The next election could prove to be a rude awakening."

Doug Davidson, Toronto

"If this sort of thing happened at Canada Steamship Lines, you (Paul Martin) would have to take full responsibility as owner and CEO. The same goes for the office you held while these schemes were being played out. I would expect the finance minister to know what's happening to my tax money."

James Cook, Toronto

"Since Paul Martin has indicated there was a sophisticated group of shadowy government employees who sliced away part of the $250-million sponsorship fund, he should give us some names."

Bob Fisher, Vancouver

"We think this is bad. Well, what about a billion-dollar mess the Liberals created with Bill C-68, money wasted on firearms legislation that has done nothing but spend, spend, spend?"

Mike Coleman, Welland

"I am completely fed up with the horrifying lack of accountability of our government. The involvement of every MP must be exposed to public scrutiny. "

Lynn Jones, Winnipeg

"If Mr. Chrétien's government squandered $250 million, that equates to approximately $10 for every person in Canada. I have a family of four. I want my 40 bucks. Where do I send my invoice?"

Bill Wilkinson, Milton

"I have been calling for private audit firms to review all financial programs on a quarterly basis. That is why we are continuing to see these abuses with our governments."

David Smith, Toronto

"How can any Liberal MP in good conscience not resign, return the salary and wages they were paid and refuse their pension?

``No one can claim they did not know, as Paul Martin has done. To claim you did not know is to admit incompetence in cases of this magnitude."

Hugh Crosthwait, Toronto

"I think that Prime Minister Paul Martin has done the right thing by calling for a public inquiry into the whole affair.

``This will clear the air once and for all.

``Honesty is the best policy and this will not hurt the Liberals in the coming election.

Vince Moreau, Pembroke


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This whole sponsorship scandal was on the news a few months ago, for quite a number of days, yet... Nobody gave a crap. Now that Martin is at the helm, suddenly everyone seems to be going ballistic over it.

What I'd like to know is how on earth could Chretien get away with all of the crap he pulled while he was PM... yet Martin is being burned at the stake. I also have to say, I find it funny how a lot of people view Mulroney as having been a bad PM. Compared to Chretien, Mulroney was a saint.

I think it's time that Triumph the insult dog payed the House of Commons a visit.
 
Well, I certainly take issue with you about Chretien being worse than Mulroney. I lived through Mulroney's era myself and I'd have to say that Chretien is miles better. Consider the state of the country now versus the state the country was in in 1992. Certainly, Chretien benefitted from favourable macroeconomic winds and Mulroney was damned unlucky, but Mulroney was arrogant and conceited, and his government was incompetent. Maybe he was as arrogant and conceited and as incompetent as Chretien, but he was certainly worthy of condemnation. And, given the state the country was in come 1992, a lot more people felt a lot more uncomfortable and were a lot more willing to hang the government for every conceivable foible.

But onto your other point: why is Martin fielding this "crap", as you put it. Well, there is a sound explanation for this: the Auditor General's report. The seriousness of the revelations was not something we were privy to until Sheila Fraser came through with her report, and she certainly made every effort to ensure the media picked up on her report and blast it on the airwaves. In other words, the sponsorship scandal has been around for years, but it's only now that most Canadians know about it.

And this is something you can blame Chretien for, in some small way. Chretien commissioned the inquiry. Chretien made the moves that delayed, but did not resolve, the revelations until this moment -- conveniently, three months after he leaves office.

It's a little thank-you present, from Chretien to Martin. Happy birthday, PM! :b
 
The way I see it, Martin's willingness to show up on Cross Country Checkup suggests to me that this is the first phase of Martin's counterattack. He seems to be making every show of taking on this issue and appearing to deal with it openly. If he puts on a strong performance, taking heat and not wilting, he will make himself appear like a strong leader who isn't afraid to take criticism.

So, how did he do? Anybody listen in?

...James
 
This blog has some interesting reviews. It seems like Martin passed this test:

www.blogscanada.ca/egroup...f06d414066

My favourite quote:

Compare Martin's performance here before largely antagonistic public questioning and George W. Bush's performance on Meet The Press. Martin clearly gained from this exposure. Bush clearly lost when he went before the cameras in much easier circumstances.
Click to expand...

One more reason to be proud of our country.
 
The auditor general has often come out with damning reports on the federal Liberals, and never has it generated so much continuous heat on the PM. It's as though there is a witch hunt going on now with Martin. I'm sure the new so-called Conservative Party of Canada is laughing it's ass off at their luck. The Liberals have dropped in the polls, and they've climbed up.

I like Martin. He comes across as very open, and sincere in his desire to change things for the better in Canada. I was actually shocked to see that Copps had the audacity to jump in on this latest point-the-finger-at-Martin bandwagon, considering she was a proud member of the Chretien rat pack when this bullsh*t was taking place.

As for Chretien being worse than Mulroney, I stand by my opinion. You have yours. I have mine. Chretien rubbed me the wrong way with the smoke & mirrors gimmicks that he would often pull in an attempt to portray himself as humble to the public.

Do you remember when he got rid of all the Cadillac limos aftering becoming PM? He replaced them with Chevrolets to show the public that unlike Mulroney, he was thrifty. People fell for it. It wasn't until the media made public the fact that each Chevy had to undergo $250,000 dollars in structural reinforcements [for his protection] that it became apparent Chretien cared more about the image vs. the reality.

Add up all the Billions he's cost Canada. Add up all the money he has cost us with his personal vendettas alone. Chretien royally sucked as PM. My opinion, of course.
 
But(t) some Canadians enjoy a prime minister who sucks ass!
;)
 
Martin is definitely my kind of PM.



OTTAWA — Paul Martin gambled his political life today by boldly promising to resign if the facts prove he had prior knowledge of a federal sponsorship scheme that funnelled $100 million in taxpayers' money to friends of the Liberal party.

"Anybody who is found to have known that people are kiting cheques, that people are falsifying invoices - me or anybody else - should resign," the prime minister said on CBC's Cross Country Checkup.

"Anybody who knew that kind of thing was going on and let it happen, they don't belong in public life."

Read Entire Star Article
 
Wow... that takes guts!

Also, it is a brilliant strategic move. Its the best thing he could have done given the circumstances.
 
Im taking an objective look at this and in my opinion Martin has to know SOMETHING, I mean come on, he was the Finance Minister until 2001. You cant tell me that he never approved any of the funds, or that he had no idea what could have been happening to federal funds. I like Martin, and I want to vote for him, but his plea that he never knew anything makes me wonder whether he would be competent enough to be PM, since he obviously didnt know what was going on as Finance Minister.
 
I'm confident Martin would be a heckuvalot more competent as PM than either Layton or Harper.
 
Thats true too, plus I would never vote Conservative. I guess we just have to wait until most of the facts come out and Martin proves he really had nothing to do with it, as hard as that is to believe with the position he held.
 
The Liberals dropped again in the polls. They're now down to 35% vs. 27% for the Conservatives. I never would have expected this to happen.
 
I think this whole issue has been blown out of proportion.

Are people actually shocked that this kind of thing happens in politics? Do they honestly think it won't happen in one form or another under every party? Does anyone realize that this is several orders of magnitude lower than the outrageous porkbarrelling that goes on in other countries, the USA most notably.
 
What bothers me the most about this, is that the story was front page news many months ago when Chretien was at the helm. The public didn't react. Nobody cared. Now suddenly, everybody cares. And like I mentioned before, the Auditor General has released many reports over the years that have condemned the Liberals. Again, nothing ever happened to their popularity.

One analyst mentioned tonight that the drop in the polls may be the very result of Martin keeping the issue alive. The very thing that he is doing to clear his name, may be causing the issue to keep on burning.
 
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