Gomery Report Reaction

Gomery Report Reaction

Justice Gomery released the first part of his report to the public today. While he doesn't directly implicate Prime Minister Paul Martin in the report, one has to wonder just how competent PMPM is, if as Finance Minister and top Member of Parliament from Quebec he didn't even know what was going on in his department right under his nose.

First, from the blogs. Inexperienced political staffer Warren Kinsella is in full dudgeon. I'll change the link to a pseudo-permalink as his November archives become available on his blog. (Note to W.K.: it's the blogosphere dude, figure out permalinks one of these days willya?)

Angry in the Great White North is all over this, including reaction from the snivelling weenie Jack Layton. He also has thoughts on inexperienced political staffer Warren Kinsella, watches as Jean Chretien gets raked over the coals, and is at his sarcastic best here:

"Got it? Because inept and panicky Martin did not let the incorruptible RCMP quietly deal with this internal party matter that was well under control by the honest and cool Chretien, the country will break up.

When will Canadians learn to leave well enough alone when the likes of Chretien and Kinsella are running the place? See what sort of trouble we get ourselves into when we dare ask questions?"

Kate at Small Dead Animals asks where the Minister for Democratic Renewal, Belinda! is and points us to this article by Greg Weston, which praises whistleblower Allan Cutler and an anonymous Montreal advertising executive, who first raised the red flags about the Sponsorship Program.

Jason at Back Off Government shows no surprise. He even predicted the headline an hour before the report was issued, and it looks like he could be right.

Now for the big media outlets' response. From CNN.com:

"Canada's former prime minister, Jean Chretien, shares the blame for a government scandal laced by greed, incompetence, carelessness and venality, but Prime Minister Paul Martin, a fellow Liberal, is off the hook, an official report said on Tuesday.

The report of an inquiry into a deeply flawed government advertising program to promote Canadian unity also said senior Liberal officials in French-speaking Quebec had engaged in an elaborate kickback scheme and in illegal campaign financing.

...

Stephen Harper, leader of the official opposition Conservatives, said Martin -- who was finance minister at the time of the scandal -- had no option but to resign."

From the CBC:
Martin forwards report to RCMP
Gomery blames Chrétien for sponsorship flaws
Harper, Duceppe call for quick election

From CTV:
Gomery's first report lays blame with Chretien

My take on all of this? If the Liberals don't receive a Campbellesque thrashing at the polls in the next election, then Canada is finished.

Update: Angry White Males says that Martin was not exonerated due to the restricted nature of the scope of the Gomery Inquiry. Hey Sean McCormick, when are you going to provide a script so that I can post your cartoon in my blog?

Also, Dust My Broom has a summary of the report. And Instapundit weighs in, briefly.

Update 2: Dust My Broom examines the part of the Gomery report dealing with the $3 million in Sponsorship funds sent to the RCMP, of which only $1.7 million actually arrived.

Rootleweb calls Jean Chretien a liar. CTV reports that Chretien will challenge the Gomery report in court.

Update 3: Stephen Taylor liveblogged reaction from Parliament Hill, and directly asked Jean Chretien:

"Mr. Chretien, how will this affect your golf game?"

Yes, I heckled the former Prime Minister as he arrived to give perhaps the most serious press conference of his life and it got a good response from the press waiting out in the cold. Chretien bowed his head and grimaced as he walked into the building without a word. I guess that this perhaps one advantage of being a blogger instead of a full fledged member of the mainstream media; you get to rip into politicos when they deserve it while not risking your media clout.

The Conservative Hipster figures that Gomery's report won't matter - that nobody will care. The Freeway to Serfdom concurs, and says that the money wasn't stolen through the sponsorship program, but that the theft occured much earlier, when it left the pockets and bank accounts of Canadians in the first place.

(sarcasm)Mike at the London Fog predicted that the report would be completely impartial.(/sarcasm)

Update 4: The Phantom Observer takes a close look at Chapter 16 of the report, which deals with the specifics of who was to blame for the problems with the sponsorship program. He sees the Bloc Quebecois as the big winners here, and some opportunities for the Conservatives too, if they play their cards right.

Update 5: Calgary Grit also blogged on the Gomery report throughout the day and collected the net reaction.

Update 6: Kate has some fun at the expense of the RCMP.

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