The Globe and Mail has an unbelievable round-up. No one wonder some people have hyped up possible mafia connections. Even if non exist, the Sponsorship Program was run in a manner reminesent of television portrayls of crime families. The is so much that it is hard to pick up representative chunks. I will try to give a 5,000 foot level view and then drill down in other posts. Especially in relation to the Parallel Party of Liberals.
...He said Benoît Corbeil, the executive director of the party's Quebec wing, once asked for a $400,000 donation and promised that he would get him a $3-million sponsorship contract. The commission Mr. Brault would earn on that contract was to compensate for the donation.
...While some of his allegations cannot be independently verified, many others were buttressed by scores of bogus invoices, cashed cheques, annotations in agenda books and other records the inquiry's forensic accountants dug up.
...He said Tony Mignacca, a friend of former public works minister Alfonso Gagliano, made a veiled threat that Groupaction would lose a major contract should Mr. Brault fail to rehire a Liberal lobbyist with whom he had a falling out. As he recalled the incident, Mr. Brault got so upset he had to take a break from the witness stand.
...As Mr. Brault told of his increasing resentment at making secret gifts to the Liberals, Judge Gomery asked why he kept paying. "We were left to understand that all contributions would be taken into consideration — and in one way or another would be compensated for," Mr. Brault explained. The clandestine contributions were made on top of $166,000 in official donations that Mr. Brault gave to the Liberal party.
...Mr. Carle then told them to go see bureaucrats in charge of advertising. "They'll explain to you what you need to do." They told him they had already done that but he said they should keep trying. Mr. Brault said Mr. Carle told him that "Doing business with the government, it's like a big highway. There's a place for everyone. Big trucks. Small trucks. Big cars. Small cars."
...Subsequent requests came either from Mr. Renaud, Mr. Corbeil or Mr. Corriveau, Mr. Brault said. "It cost a lot, meeting them."
...Employees were reimbursed with bonuses, which were adjusted to compensate for their resulting bigger income taxes. "All the people close to Jean Brault who donated . . . did so at my request and got paid back 100 per cent."
...In February, 1998, Mr. Renaud billed Groupaction $63,500 for various professional services but no work had been done in fact, Mr. Brault said. Mr. Renaud then gave $63,858 to the Liberal Party of Canada that year, making him the seventh biggest donor, ahead of some chartered banks. "I did my duty for my party," Mr. Renaud told The Globe and Mail when he was asked about that donation.
...The next time at the restaurant, Mr. Brault said he put an envelope of cash on the table and left for the bathroom when Mr. Wiseman showed up. "When I came back, the two were seated, the money was gone. The conversation went as if nothing had happened."
