Canada's Liberals on brink of fall over scandal

OTTAWA, Canada — Prime Minister Paul Martin scrambled yesterday to prevent the fall of his government amid a kickback scandal in his Liberal Party, as a new poll showed the opposition Conservatives would easily win fresh elections if held today.

In what some say is Canada's version of Watergate, in terms of magnitude and potential damage, Martin reiterated that he had nothing to do with the ethics fiasco, in which 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, Martin 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."

How long Martin can remain prime minister is anyone's guess, and the halls of Parliament were rife with speculation about whether new elections were around the corner.

The separatist Bloc Québécois could introduce a confidence motion by Thursday, although the more powerful Conservative Party was hedging, knowing most Canadians are not keen for new elections.

"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.

A poll published by the Toronto Star yesterday indicates that only one-fourth of those questioned last week would vote for the Liberals if elections were held today. 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 Thursday and Saturday, with a margin of error of 2.9 percentage points.

The scandal, based on a secret program that dates to the 1990s and the Liberal Party leadership of former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, erupted anew Thursday when a judge investigating the alleged misuse of public money 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 hush money to Liberals in restaurants, payments being given to a brother of Chrétien's, and reluctant contributions strong-armed out of employees.

Brault said he got $141 million in government business for his firm.

Chrétien 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.

The program was developed to promote national unity in Quebec following the narrow defeat of a separatist referendum in the French-speaking province in 1995.

Advertising agencies with Liberal ties allegedly received millions of dollars in exchange for little or no apparent work.

The scandal led to a deep rift in the Liberal Party, in particular between Chrétien and Martin.

Amid shouting in the House of Commons yesterday, a red-faced Martin told legislators he was the one who dissolved the program, convened the commission to investigate the project and filed lawsuits against 19 ad agencies to recover government money.

Martin may still have to take the fall even if it is determined that he had no knowledge of the misuse of government money.