Embattled Prime Minister Paul Martin made a rare, nationally televised address on Thursday to apologize for a corruption scandal within his Liberal Party, calling it an "unjustifiable mess."
Martin pledged to call an election within 30 days of an inquiry report on the scandal which has disgusted Canadians and provoked the opposition Conservative Party to threaten a no-confidence vote that could take down the government any day, triggering new elections.
"Those who are in power are to be held responsible, and that includes me," Martin said. "I'm sorry that I was not more vigilant. Those who have violated the public trust will be identified and will pay the consequences."
Unlike US presidents, who make annual State of the Union addresses or commandeer the airwaves for important occasions, it was the first such address by a Canadian leader in a decade and was aired coast-to-coast by all six of Canada's English and French television networks.
Former Prime Minister Jean Chretien did so on the eve of the failed 1995 referendum, pleading with voters in the French-speaking province of Quebec to turn down a proposal to become a sovereign state.
It was Chretien's national unity program, designed to bring Quebecois back into the national fold, that is at the heart of the current crisis that appears likely to topple Martin's minority Liberal government.
Justice John Gomery is overseeing an ongoing federal inquiry in Montreal concerning allegations of kickbacks and money laundering by Liberals during Chretien's leadership. Gomery is expected to give his report by Dec. 15.
Martin appealed to the two-thirds of Canadians who have told pollsters they don't want elections now to give his government time to pass critical legislation on such issues as health care and environmental reform, gay marriage, a national child-care program and the federal budget.
"Let Judge Gomery do his work," Martin said in taped speeches in English and French. "If so much as a dollar is found to have made its way into the Liberal Party for ill-gotten gains, it will be repaid to the people of Canada. I want no part of that money."
The scandal outraged the public when it was uncovered in 2002 and contributed to the Liberal Party's loss of its majority in Parliament after federal elections last June. An auditor general's report found millions of dollars in a national unity fund went to Liberal-friendly advertising firms to promote federalism in Quebec following the narrow defeat of a separatist referendum in the French-speaking province.
Martin has not been implicated in the scandal and is quick to point out that his first piece of business in office was to cancel the program, file lawsuits against 19 of the involved firms, and demand the inquiry.
Martin's opponents called his address a desperate, last-ditch attempt to remain in power, and demanded equal air time.
"We've all just witnessed a sad spectacle, a prime minister so burdened with corruption in his own party that he's unable to do his job and lead the country," Conservative Party Leader Stephen Harper said, following the address. "A party leader playing for time, begging for another chance."
As each day passes, the crisis seems to get worse and front pages of the dailies run bold headlines with ugly new details.
The Globe and Mail on Thursday had an interview with Benoit Corbeil, a high-ranking Liberal organizer who told the national newspaper he received tens of thousands of dollars in cash from one of the advertising firms and funneled the money back into the hands of "fake volunteers" working on the Liberal campaign. Such laundering is a violation of federal electoral law.
Corbeil said most recipients of the cash were Liberal supporters who took unpaid leaves from their positions in ministries to work on the general election in 2000.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese