Canadian History Title



   The Sponsorship Scandal   
                                                                            

PAGE DEVELOPED BY: Alyssa Penny  2006


Summary

The sponsorship scandal began in 1994. There were many people involved in the scandal but it centered around the government. The most important people to this matter were Chuck Guite who ran the federal sponsorship program, Jean Brault who defrauded the federal government of $1.6 million, Jean Chrétien who was the prime minister at the time, Paul Martin who was the prime minister when Chrétien resigned and who was the minister of finance during the scandal, and lastly Sheila Fraser who investigated the matter. Also, many advertising companies were involved in it by getting the funds from the government. The sponsorship scandal ended up spending over 100 million dollars that could have been used to help and improve our country. The fund was run by the Public Works Department which took money and put it towards "the sponsorship program" to counter the separatism of Quebec. In 2004 corruption was discovered and the program was stopped. The funds were being misused and misdirected. The funds were being used to pay a variety of communications agencies in the form of fees and commissions. The program was basically designed to generate commissions for companies that supported the Liberals rather than to produce any benefit for Canadians.



 This is a picture of Jean Brault who defrauded the federal government of $1.6 million with his lawyer.

 

Historical Importance

The sponsorship scandal was very important to the history of Canada. It especially had a big impact on the political social and aspect of Canada. After the sponsorship scandal became public many Canadians no long trusted the governments decisions and questioned everything. The liberal government was pressured to call an election but they resisted. Later on the other parties of the government united to topple the government in a motion of no confidence. They argued that the Liberals no longer had the moral authority to govern. After that there was an election on Jan. 23, 2006. In that election the conservatives won, and for the first time in 12 years the liberals were not in power. This changed the structure of the government a lot because the regular party was no longer in power. Many Canadians after the scandal don't trust the government which is unfortunate.

Another way that this scandal was historically important was because the liberals wasted over $100 million of our country's money. This had an economic impact because the money could have been very well used to help Canada not to pay off companies. We could have used this money to do many more useful things like help education or help the homeless. The way this money was spent was wrong and this scandal should have never occurred.

 

This is a picture of Chuck Guite who ran the federal sponsorship program.

Related Articles / Links:


Article #1: Federal sponsorship scandal
Article #2: History of the sponsorship program
Article #3 Canada’s Liberal government rocked by financial scandal
Article #4 Guite's Testimony
Article #5 Martin Testifies
Article #6 Chretien Testifies

 Critique of Websites 


This is a picture of Paul Martin testifying about the Sponsorship Scandal.

Paul Martin who was the prime minister when Chrétien resigned and who was the minister of finance during the scandal.

 

   REVIEW QUESTIONS

  1. What role did Chuck Guite play in this scandal?
    1. He was the prime minister at the time that the program was running.
    2. He ran the federal sponsorship program.
    3. He was the judge during the hearings.
    4. He was the head of one of the companies getting money.


  2. Which Federal government did the Sponsorship Inquiry focus on?
    1. Liberal
    2. Conservative
    3. NDP
    4. Bloc Quebecois



  3. When did the scandal begin?
    1. 1989
    2. 1990
    3. 1994
    4. 2002



  4. Why did the liberals get a no confidence vote?

    1. Paul Martin wasn't confident in his decisions.
    2. The other parties in Canada argued that the Liberals no longer had the moral authority to govern.
    3. Canadians were asked to vote and that was what they thought.
    4. They were running for 12 years and the other parties were not confident that it was right.


     

    5.  Which party won the election on Jan. 23, 2006 after the no confidence vote?

    1. The NDP party
    2. The Liberals
    3. The Conservative party
    4. The communist party of Canada