Dispelling Three Big Myths in Federal Politics

May 25, 2005

It’s time once again to set the record straight. To dispel the myths advanced by the Paul Martin Liberal ‘spin-doctoring’ machine.

The federal Liberals have once again proven themselves old pros at confounding the electorate with innuendo and falsehoods. Think I’m simply engaging in typical partisan finger-pointing and mud-slinging? Fair enough, but first I ask you to consider the following three “reality checks” and decide for yourself.

Liberal Myth#1: To know what really happened in the sponsorship scandal, we must wait for Justice Gomery to issue his final report, sometime in December.

FACT: Justice Gomery is forbidden to ‘name names’ in his final report. The “Terms of Reference” for the Gomery Inquiry state that Justice Gomery is not allowed to tell Canadians who is to blame for the misappropriation of your tax dollars nor is he permitted to suggest what punishment these guilty individuals deserve.

The Prime Minister asked Canadians to wait for the Gomery Report to answer their questions, but he is perfectly aware the Gomery report will only make general recommendations to guide those creating similar sponsorships-type programs in the future. The inquiry testimony you’ve been hearing to date is as far as we’ll get in understanding which senior Liberals took part in this widespread corruption and abuse of tax dollars.

Liberal Myth#2: Paul Martin is justified in defying parliamentary votes and in attempting to buy MPs with patronage appointments, senate seats and cabinet positions because the 2005 federal budget had to be passed last week for the sake of the country.

FACT: The federal budget did not pass last week. It passed second reading and faces many more legislative steps before it will ever become law. There’s nothing unusual about this. In fact, the final stages of the 2004 budget only became law just over a week ago after winding its way through due legislative process.

The country doesn’t come to a standstill until a budget is passed. Commitments are maintained, bills continue to be paid, and more importantly, signed agreements are honoured. The PM was fighting for his job, not for the country, in last week’s budget vote.

Liberal Myth#3: A Deal’s a Deal. The Liberal-NDP $4.6-billion budget deal will proceed if the government survives long enough for the legislation to pass.

FACT: The Liberal-NDP budget deal is about as good as the cocktail napkin Jack Layton and Paul Martin wrote it on. The legislation to enact it, Bill C-48, specifically states the Minister of Finance “may” honour the deal only “if” there is a surplus at the end of the fiscal year. The Paul Martin Liberals have announced tens of billions in additional spending since signing the NDP deal, thereby ensuring there will probably be no surplus.

So there you have it … the facts. And lest you believe I’m engaging in some spin-doctoring of my own, I urge you to verify the facts I’ve presented to you. The complete text and legislative status of Bill C-48 (the Liberal-NDP deal) and Bill C-43 (The 2005 budget implementation act) are available at www.parl.gc.ca. The Gomery Inquiry website detailing its terms of reference is www.gomery.ca.

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