Jean Chrétien believes that now have a new set of rules. If we don't have a smoking gun in our hand, we're not guilty. Being responsible for a ministry responsible for a certain area is no longer enough.
Chrétien created a system shrouded in secrecy, against the advice of his top advisors without any outlines. The program left itself open to corruption.
Gomery’s report exonerated Prime Minister Paul Martin. But, the 330 million dollars had to come from somewhere. The money could have come from finance, Martin was Finance Minister. The money could have come from the Treasury Board, Martin was vice-president. But Martin is not to blame.
The only person convicted so far has been Paul Coffin, who kicked back money to the Liberal Party. He was not sent to prison, but instead his punishment was to give lectures on ethics to students.
The enquiry noted that the vast majority of politicians are innocent and hard working, and blameless.
Jack Layton said in a post Gomery scrum, "This is a Liberal scandal -not a Canadian scandal. The guidelines coming up are voluntary and not binding. There is a Liberal culture of corruption, a lack of respect for Canadians." Layton would, however, not commit himself to a non confidence vote, choosing to continue to prop up the 'blameless' Liberal minority government.
I should point out that even though the five advertising firm presidents, mentioned in the Gomery report, who, with their families ended up with amounts ranging from $29.8 million to $4.9 million were French Canadians, the people of French-Canada should not be held to 'blame'.
Stephen Harper noted that the "Liberal party has a culture of corruption, has fought elections with 5 million dollars of stolen money and no one has gone to jail. The Liberal party has an entitlement of corruption. Martin is not totally exonerated. He had been exonerated of something he was never accused. The cabinet is not free of responsibility. One Liberal giving another lessons on ethics doesn't make much sense as punishment."
The second report, due out in February, will outline methods to avoid future scandals.
How do you train Liberals/government to accept that all money in Canada does not belong to them and not to take money that doesn't belong to them?