OTTAWA, Canada- Canadians call it their Watergate – a kickback scandal that has badly damaged the Liberal Party and now threatens to bring down the government of Paul Martin.How long Martin can remain prime minister is anyone’s guess. The halls of Parliament were rife Monday with speculation about whether new elections were around the corner.
The separatist Bloc Quebecois could introduce a confidence motion by Thursday, though the more powerful Conservative Party was hedging, knowing most Canadians are not keen on new elections.
Martin reiterated that he had nothing to do with the ethics fiasco, in which Liberal Party members are accused of having taken kickbacks from advertising agencies hired to promote federalism in the rebellious French-speaking province of Quebec.
“Not only do I have the moral authority, I have the moral responsibility” to keep the government afloat until the full inquiry into the scandal concludes in the fall, he said. “Canadians are entitled to ask someone to step forward, and I’m the prime minister of this country. I can assure you that anyone who has been implicated is going to be punished.”
Canadians don’t seem to be buying his argument. A poll published by the Toronto Star on Monday showed the Conservatives would easily win fresh elections if held today.
The poll indicates that only 25 percent of those questioned last week would vote for the Liberals. The Conservatives were backed by 36 percent, up 10 points from a survey taken in February.
The poll, conducted by EKOS Research Associates, surveyed 1,125 Canadians over voting age between last Thursday and Saturday and had a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.
“There is a depth of anger there. The Liberal Party is in deep, deep trouble,” said Richard Simeon, professor of political science at the University of Toronto.
The scandal, based on a secret program that dates back to the 1990s and the Liberal Party leadership of former Prime Minister Jean Chretien, erupted anew last Thursday when a judge probing the alleged misuse of public funds lifted a publication ban on testimony by a Montreal ad executive.
The executive, Jean Brault, who faces fraud charges stemming from the now-defunct program, told the federal inquiry that senior Liberals forced him to secretly divert more than $818,000 to the party’s Quebec wing in exchange for sponsorship contracts. During his six days of testimony, Brault spoke of hushed-up payments to Liberals in restaurants, money being given to a brother of Chretien, and reluctant contributions strong-armed out of employees.
Brault said he got $141 million in government business for his firm.
Chretien and Martin have vehemently denied any personal knowledge of wrongdoing.
The so-called “sponsorship scandal” outraged the public when it was uncovered in 2002, after the auditor general determined that $82 million from a $204 million national unity fund went to Liberal-friendly advertising firms.
