As I wrote on September 9, 2004, I never liked the way the RCMP were linked to the Chretien/Martin Liberal Party Adscam Sponsorship Corruption Scandal Inquiry (and refreshment stand!). The RCMP themselves got money from the Liberals.
I called my post “RCMP needs to mount something besides horses and Liberals”, but now that deputy Conservative Party leader Peter MacKay is onto it (7 months later), I’m sure he’ll refer to it all, well, more politely.
CANADA’S NATIONAL police force can’t be trusted to conduct a wide-ranging investigation into new criminal allegations made at the AdScam inquiry, Conservative Deputy Leader Peter MacKay suggested yesterday. He points to RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli’s “perceived” cozy relationship with the government of Jean Chretien and the fact the force was itself tangled up in the sponsorship scandal.
“There’s already been significant examples of where the RCMP have been too—and I emphasize too—closely linked to the Prime Minister’s Office,” MacKay said, recommending the Quebec or Ontario provincial police conduct a probe instead.
Zaccardelli, however, hinted yesterday the Mounties could broaden their investigation into AdScam.
UPDATE: The excellent Greg Weston of Sun Media is onto it as well, only with a fresh take on it—which adds to the intrigue:
In the latest episode of Desperate House Lies, Paul Martin’s government has announced it is calling in the Mounties to find out who stole all the stolen sponsorship money otherwise intended for the Liberal Party in Quebec.
This will no doubt bring welcome relief and warming reassurance to Canadian taxpayers everywhere, especially those on the wrong medication.
The good news is the Mounties may be able to get some pretty good leads over soup and a sandwich.
Turns out their cafeteria at RCMP headquarters in Montreal is run by Buffet Trio, the family catering company of Joe Morselli.
Morselli is also the former Liberal bagman named in last week’s bombshell Adscam allegations that the sponsorship program was rife with kickbacks, bid-rigging and money-laundering.
We know of nothing illegal about Morselli’s contract to provide munchies to the Mounties. It’s just the idea of the RCMP investigating the hand that feeds them is, well, a bit delicious.
Last week, Montreal advertising executive Jean Brault testified that his firm, Groupaction, used phony invoices to launder over $1 million worth of sponsorship funds into Liberal party pockets through Morselli and others in return for over $40 million in government ad contracts.
In one case, Brault testified, he paid Morselli $50,000 to help Groupaction keep a lucrative advertising contract with the federal Justice Department.
Forked over $5Gs
On another occasion, in a scene reminiscent of hit TV show The Sopranos, Brault said he gave Morselli an envelope containing $5,000 at an Italian restaurant.Exactly how Morselli’s company came to have the catering contract at RCMP headquarters is not entirely clear. A federal Public Works official says that while that department handles the catering contracts in most federal buildings, Morselli’s firm was picked by the RCMP division in Montreal—the same one investigating Adscam.
Morselli’s good luck in federal contracting didn’t stop with the RCMP kitchen.
Buffet Trio also has the cafeteria contract at the huge federal tax centre in—wait for it—Jean Chretien’s home town of Shawinigan.
A Public Works official says Buffet Trio first won that contract in a “competitive bid” in 1998, at the height of the sponsorship program.
Morselli’s firm won the contract again last fall under the Martin government—and still has it.
All of which may leave the RCMP—and the Liberal government—with more than a bit of indigestion.
He then goes on to retell the story I alluded to back in September.
PTBC was founded by Mr. Johannesen in 2000.
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