16 years ago today Adscam was born:
Sponsorship scandal
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search"Adscam" redirects here. For the American sting operation, see
Abscam.
The sponsorship scandal, "AdScam", "Sponsorship"or Sponsorgate, is a
scandal that came as a result of a
Canadian federal government "
sponsorship program" in the province of
Quebec and involving the
Liberal Party of Canada, which was in power from 1993 to 2006. The program was originally established as an effort to raise awareness of the
Government of Canada's contributions to Quebec industries and other activities in order to counter the actions of the
Parti Québécois government of the province that worked to promote
Quebec independence.
The program ran from 1996 until 2004, when broad
corruption was discovered in its operations and the program was discontinued. Illicit and even illegal activities within the administration of the program were revealed, involving misuse and misdirection of public funds intended for government
advertising in Quebec. Such misdirections included sponsorship money awarded to ad firms in return for little or no work, which firms maintained Liberal organizers or fundraisers on their payrolls or donated back part of the money to the Liberal Party. The resulting investigations and scandal affected the Liberal Party of Canada and the then government of
Prime Minister Paul Martin. It was an ongoing affair for years, but rose to national prominence in early 2004 after the program was examined by
Sheila Fraser, the
federal auditor general. Her revelations led to the government establishing the
Gomery Commission to conduct a
public inquiry and file a report on the matter.
In the national spotlight, the scandal became a significant factor in the lead-up to the
2006 federal election where after more than twelve years in power the
Liberals were defeated by the
Conservatives, who formed a minority government that was sworn in February 2006.