As Prime Minister Jean Chretien, celebrating his grand electoral triumph, was teeing it up with U.S. President Bill Clinton on the weekend, a poll came out with unpleasant news. Despite giving his Liberals a majority government, two of three Canadians said in a large Ipsos-Reid survey that they didn't think Mr. Chretien had what it takes to govern. A majority said his government was arrogant and, to use a mild word, unethical. Though a success on many fronts, the campaign in fact brought the whole shady business of alleged foul play with taxpayer money, particularly with regard to the prime minister's own riding, into larger focus. Through the release of official documents it was revealed that the Liberals used a clandestine network of party cronies to help oversee the dispensing of grant monies in Quebec.
Questions remain to be answered.
Journalists haven't yet begun to explore the story. The public and the media have a right to be suspicious. When the story of the money mismanagement controversy at Human Resources Development Canada broke in January, the Liberals dismissed it as media hype, a tempest in a teapot. But while Mr. Chretien was absolved of wrongdoing by his handpicked ethics counsellor, who failed to investigate new information that had come to light, many suspect there is more to this story. What came out in the campaign is potentially damaging.