The former federal bureaucrat who blew the whistle on the sponsorship scandal testifies before a Commons committee that there were problems with how the Public Works department handled contracts long before the Quebec sovereignty referendum.
The Liberals say the troubled sponsorship program was launched to boost Canada's image in the wake of a near-loss in the plebiscite, but Allan Cutler tells the Public Accounts Committee that he saw shady dealings in the department in 1994 -- one year before the referendum.
Cutler alleges departmental checks and balances on contract procedures were effectively erased by a senior Public Works official who was allegedly working with ministerial backing from Chuck Guite. He claims not to know who, specifically, had authorized Guite to amend normal procedures.