The “E” Question: Will There Be A Spring Federal Election?

April 13, 2005

When I sat down to pen my column this week, I knew I had to address the question that so many constituents are asking: Is the country heading into another federal election this Spring?

While I don’t possess the answer to that question, I can provide some perspective on the worsening stability of the Liberal minority government. Ultimately, Canadians will determine when the next election will be held. Thanks to the minority Parliament situation, the Conservative Party of Canada has the ability to comply quickly should voters make their request for an election clear.

Frankly, even I have to admit the events of the past couple of weeks are shocking. Since Auditor General Sheila Fraser issued her scathing report on the Public Work’s Sponsorship Program in December 2003, I’ve made no secret of the fact that I believed the rot of ‘Adscam’ went much deeper than what had been revealed. If the statements made at the Gomery Inquiry by Quebec advertising executive Jean Brault are true, it points to corruption of epidemic proportions in the Liberal Party of Canada.

Mr. Brault has alleged a kickback, bribery and corruption scheme that funnelled tax dollars back into the Liberal Party. This week, another federal ad money ‘broker’, Alain Renaud, related to the Gomery Inquiry his allegations of heavy involvement in the sponsorship scheme by senior officials for both Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin.

So much for Prime Minister Martin’s long-held claims that it was a few “rogue bureaucrats” who were responsible for the abuse of millions of tax dollars. Now it’s been alleged that the elaborate scheme involved, not a few rogue bureaucrats or Liberals, but Liberal officials at the highest levels.

Mr. Martin’s much-vaunted claim that he’d had the Liberal Party’s books audited to uncover whether sponsorship cash had made its way into the party’s coffers, has also been debunked as a myth.

The Liberals didn’t even turn over all of their records to auditors, including those belonging to riding associations, which is precisely where all the sponsorship money is alleged to have been funnelled. Plus, it wouldn’t have included the bags of cash alleged to have been left in restaurants as part of the scheme.

If Canadians decide, based upon these indications of systemic abuse of tax dollars, that the federal Liberal government no longer possesses the moral authority to govern, the Conservative Party will act to remove the government from power.

Opinion polls, of which I am very cautious, are but one part in determining whether that time has come. The rest of the answer rests with each Member of Parliament carefully listening to the emails, letters and phone calls pouring in from their constituents.

Conservatives will not allow an opportunistic separatist agenda to decide on an election date. The Bloc Quebecois figures it has nothing to lose … except a country.

But it is the future of this nation and the principles of accountability and responsibility in government that will continue to guide the Conservative Party through what will undoubtedly be very tumultuous days to come.

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