What is the financial scandal all about?
In February 2004, Canada’s auditor-general issued a report which said that in the late 1990s, the governing Liberals systematically channelled at least C$100m ($85m; 49m) from a C$250m government programme to advertising and communication agencies with ties to the Liberal Party, for little or no work. The money was earmarked to pay for advertising and sponsorship of sporting and cultural events to promote Canadian unity (the affair is referred in the Canadian media as the sponsorship scandal). Mr Martin has lost a no-confidence vote The fund was launched shortly after the primarily French-speaking province of Quebec voted in 1995 by only the thinnest of margins to stay in Canada. Auditor-General Sheila Fraser said much of what she found was a “shocking” waste of Canadian taxpayers’ money, and that she was “deeply disturbed” by what had happened. The programme appeared to be designed to generate commissions for these companies while hiding the source of the funding and “true substance o
