Budget may well overshadow scandal

WORTH REPEATING

Justice John Gomery’s decision to delay by six weeks his final report on the sponsorship scandal is a boon to the Liberal party and the Martin government. With the scheduled release date moved from Dec. 15 to Feb. 1, Prime Minister Paul Martin will now be free to hold an election in March and still keep his promise of calling a vote within 30 days of the tabling of the inquiry’s final report. The delay means there will be an interval of more than four months between Gomery’s first report in early November, on the facts of the sponsorship scandal, and an election. That’s a long time in politics, maybe even long enough for voters to forget some of the grim details of the scandal. The delay also means the government will have time to bring down a budget, which — what a shock — might well be full of election goodies.

Conspiracy-minded Canadians will no doubt see Gomery’s delay as just too fortuitous to be true. But that would be unfair. Rare is the commission of inquiry in Canada that finishes its work within the time frame and budget originally allotted. It’s also important to remember that the delay serves a good cause: public involvement.

After the formal inquiry drew to a close, Gomery threw open the process to all Canadians. He asked them to send their comments and solutions. The offer prompted more than 4,000 replies, a third of them from Quebec.

It was a smart move by Gomery. Nobody has a monopoly on good ideas, and the public has a right to be invited to get involved in the effort to stop pork- barrelling. Delay in Gomery’s final report serves a good cause: public involvement

It’s easy to sneer at public involvement. But the fact is that existing rules that were supposed to prevent graft and wholesale waste were ignored. If anyone anywhere has a workable idea on how to craft and enforce new standards to prevent another such outrage, the country needs to hear about it. And even if no miracle idea arrives, the process will, with luck, help renew voters’ confidence that vast scams are not the norm, and that the system will be more honest in the future. The importance of the Gomery Commission’s reports should not be exaggerated. The first report will summarize facts by now known to the public. There may be very few surprises. The second report will recommend ways to prevent a repeat of the scandal. Barring that miracle- cure idea, the report may have little that’s startling — and who can doubt the Liberals will jump to accept whatever Gomery proposes?

So the reports, and the whole scandal, may prove to be only a minor

variable in the outcome of the next

election. The budget is likely to be a

bigger variable.

The Gomery Commission has performed — at enormous cost, it’s true — a valuable function. It has laid out the truth of what happened when Ottawa tried to buy Quebec’s affections. Millions of dollars were wasted in this vain and patronizing effort.

If this inquiry prevents further such abuses, every penny of Gomery’s effort, and every day, will have been well spent. This is an edited version of an editorial that appeared in the Gazette, Montreal.