From the moment the Auditor General issued her
report on the sponsorship program, this prime
minister and this government has taken decisive
action to address what went wrong with the program.
Our objective is clear: to hold those responsible
to account so that a similar abuse can never happen
again.
The Liberal government has never attempted to
minimize or rationalize what occurred. On the
contrary, we have been just as disturbed by the
findings of the Auditor General and the Gomery
inquiry as any other Canadian.
Right
from the start, we recognized that a series of
steps needed to be taken if we were to right any
wrongs and restore public confidence in government.
We
started by canceling the sponsorship program.
We then launched a criminal investigation, put
comptrollers in every department to monitor government
spending, and put in place new rules and ethical
guidelines for public office holders.
Since
then, we have:
-
had an all-party Public Accounts Committee examine
this issue in full before Parliament;
-
appointed a Special Counsel to recover lost
funds
-
filed a statement of claim for about $41 million
against 19 defendants, which can be increased
as more evidence becomes available; and
-
made a commitment to have the party return any
funds donated from ill-gotten gains to the Canadian
taxpayer through the Receiver General.
To further ensure transparency in the future, we
appointed an independent ethics commissioner who
reports directly to Parliament, as well as a Comptroller
General to oversee all government spending. We also
introduced 'whistleblower' legislation to aid in
the reporting of wrongdoing, posted on a public
website all expenses of senior officials and political
staff, as well as government contracts worth more
than $10,000; and began implementing a host of measures
to strengthen management, accountability and transparency
at Crown Corporations.
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