Stéphane Dion told a Québec newspaper that he has no objection allowing Gomery enquiry bad boy, Marc-Yvan Coté, who was banned for life by former party leader and Prime Minister Paul Martin for his involvement in the sponsorship scandal, being re-admitted to the Liberal party.
 
Coté, a senior party organizer was convicted, by the Gomery Commission, of receiving cash donations to the Liberal Party and distributing it to various campaigns without a paper trail, as required by law. There have been no criminal proceedings in this case.
 
Dion said that since Coté has seen his mistake, he should not be punished for life. It is likely that Coté saw his mistake before he made it and was quite willing to thumb his nose at the election rules and regulations. Was it likely that he knew very well it was against the law, he just didn't expect to get caught. So what was his mistake? Don't get caught. 
 
When Chrétien dumped the sponsorship scandal on Martin's lap, Martin tried clean up the mess with the Gomery commission but still lost the election because people didn't trust the Liberals.
 
Now Dion is rolling back the half measures that were taken in the first place. It seems Dion is really "Chrétien's man", and owes his loyalty to Aline Chrétien for bringing him into the party, but going along with illegality is something else.
 
I wonder if the "past" is the "future" of the Liberal Party.

 
 

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