Gomery is concerned that federal officials may have...tilted the sponsorship program in favour of “advertising agencies that donated to the Liberal Party of Canada,” inquiry documents show.
In addition, Judge Gomery has indicated he may find that the sponsorship program was managed in a way that “lacked transparency and failed to optimize resources.”...
Among other things, Judge Gomery indicated in his letter that he may find that federal officials “intervened, directly or indirectly, in the selection and management of sponsorship and/or advertising activities of the federal government in an inappropriate manner that is incompatible with the non-partisan and professional character of the civil service.”
The article points out that the letters merely set out a set of suspicions to allow Bard to respond. And nothing from the letter should be too much of a surprise based on the testimony so far. But that doesn't mean the release of the letter won't have some effect on the Canadian political scene.
For the moment, any incentive Martin had to call a fall election should be reduced as the inquiry gets put back on the front page. And there's no doubt that the contents of the letter will find their way into at least some opposition discussion over the next couple of months.
For later on, however, a staggered release of information could dilute the effect of the final report, particularly if some of the suspicions from the letter are determined not to be well-founded. And any party which spends too much time on the allegations will look bad in the end if the final report exonerates enough people. (For that reason I'd hope the NDP will limit its talk about the letter - while it'll have to be mentioned somewhat to win protest votes, there are bigger Liberal failings to talk about.)
We'll find out in due time whether both today's letter and the wider Gomery report help to sink the Liberals, or whether they merely toss Harper yet another anchor.
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