MPs fail to agree on sponsorship draft report

Canadian Press
May 14, 2004 6:31 AM ET

OTTAWA — The clock finally ran out on the parliamentary inquiry into the sponsorship scandal Thursday, as MPs split along partisan lines and failed to reach agreement on a draft report.

The deadlock means there will be no conclusions or recommendations published by the all-party panel despite three months of testimony from more than 50 witnesses.

"All we did the past two days was waste time," Conservative Jason Kenney said as he emerged from the last of a series of closed-door meetings. "It was a completely sterile debate."

Kenney and other opposition MPs blamed the Liberal majority for cutting the investigation short, with an eye to the general election Prime Minister Paul Martin is expected to call next week.

Odina Desrochers of the Bloc Quebecois noted it was the Liberals who insisted on halting public testimony so MPs could meet privately this week and try to draft a report.

"The end result is no report, no recommendations," said Desrochers.

Liberals predictably blamed their opponents for scuttling the effort.

"The opposition at every turn have filibustered any attempt to get a document that would bear the stamp of the House of Commons,'' said Marlene Jennings, vice-chair of the committee. "So why should I waste my time even trying?"

The panel did publish a working paper drawn up by research staff, summarizing evidence to date. But it couldn't agree on a list of 30 draft recommendations.

Desrochers dismissed that as no great loss, saying the findings were largely technical and administrative and didn't address the key issue -- the role played by senior Liberal politicians in the sponsorship affair.

"They're recommendations that had no value," he said.