Former Canadian prime minister Jean Chretien was to be criticized in a report to be released yesterday by a federal inquiry investigating allegations of kickbacks and money laundering by the Liberal Party, a newspaper reported.
The report puts the blame on Chretien but not on Prime Minister Paul Martin, the Globe and Mail reported.
The first report by Justice John Gomery's inquiry into the alleged misspending of tens of millions of dollars in public funds by the Liberal Party and federal bureaucrats is likely to further weaken Martin's minority government, which was nearly toppled earlier this year by the scandal.
At the center of the allegations is a program under Chretien to promote national unity in Quebec following the narrow defeat of a separatist referendum in the French-speaking province in 1995.
The inquiry heard that millions of dollars in a national unity fund went to Liberal-friendly advertising firms to promote the program. The firms apparently did little work in return.
Among others who will be implicated in the scandal are former bureaucrat Chuck Guite, former minister of public works Alfonso Gagliano, Liberal Party fundraiser Jacques Corriveau and Chretien's longtime chief of staff, Jean Pelletier, the newspaper reported.
The Globe and Mail did not report any other details about the findings.
Justice Gomery is expected to issue a final report and recommendations in February.
Martin has vowed to call an election within 30 days of the release of the final report.
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 unity program, file lawsuits against 19 of the involved firms and demand the inquiry.
School bullies in Singapore are to face caning under new guidelines, but the education minister on Tuesday said it would be meted out only as a last resort with strict safeguards. Human rights groups regularly criticize Singapore for the use of corporal punishment, which remains part of the school and criminal justice systems, but authorities have defended it as a deterrent to crime and serious misconduct. Caning was discussed in the parliament after legislators asked how it would be used in relation to bullying in schools. The debate followed stricter guidelines on serious student misconduct, including bullying, unveiled by the Singaporean Ministry of
A MESSAGE: Japan’s participation in the Balikatan drills is a clear deterrence signal to China not to attack Taiwan while the US is busy in the Middle East, an analyst said The Japan Self-Defense Forces yesterday fired a Type 88 anti-ship missile during a joint maritime exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces, hitting a decommissioned Philippine Navy ship in waters facing the disputed South China Sea, in drills that underscore Tokyo’s rising willingness to project military power on China’s doorstep. The drill took place as Manila and Tokyo began talks on a potential defense equipment transfer, made possible by Japan’s decision to scrap restrictions on military exports. The discussions include the possible early transfer of Abukuma-class destroyers and TC-90 aircraft to the Philippines, Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. Philippine Secretary of
‘GROSS NEGLIGENCE?’ Despite a spleen typically being significantly smaller than a liver, the surgeon said he believed Bryan’s spleen was ‘double the size of what is normal’ A Florida surgeon who is facing criminal charges after allegedly removing a patient’s liver instead of his spleen has said he is “forever traumatized” by that person’s death. In a deposition from November last year that was recently obtained by NBC, 44-year-old Thomas Shaknovsky described the death of 70-year-old William Bryan as an “incredibly unfortunate event that I regret deeply.” Bryan died after the botched surgery; and last month, a grand jury in Tallahassee indicted Shaknovsky on a charge of manslaughter. “I’m forever traumatized by it and hurt by it,” Shaknovsky added, also saying that wrong-site surgeries can happen “during
A South Korean judge who last week more than doubled former South Korean first lady Kim Keon-hee’s prison sentence was found dead yesterday, police said. Shin Jong-o was found unconscious at about 1am at the Seoul High Court building, an investigator at the Seocho District Police Station in Seoul said. Shin was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead, he said. “There is no sign of foul play in the death,” the investigator added. Local media reported that Shin had left a suicide note, but the investigator said there was none. On Tuesday last week, Shin presided over 53-year-old Kim’s appeal trial, finding her guilty
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