Tick ... tick ... tick ...

Tom Walkom reminds us of Martin's very own scandal, just waiting to explode:

Even if Prime Minister Paul Martin is able to persuade most Canadians that he had nothing to do with the Quebec sponsorship affair, the controversy may remind voters about other matters the Liberals would prefer forgotten. One such matter is simmering away in British Columbia, sparked by post-Christmas police raids on the homes and offices of key Martin organizers... [A]s Liberals here admit privately, the B.C. business is a time bomb for the Prime Minister. Unlike the Quebec sponsorship scandal, it speaks to something for which Martin cannot escape responsibility ? the ruthless, and at times dubious, tactics he used to oust Jean Chr�tien, take over the Liberal party, and become prime minister.

And what dubious tactics would those be? Read on:

To join the Liberals and vote for the party leader, a prospective member must sign a form and pay $10. Under party rules, that fee is not supposed to be paid by someone else. It sounds simple. But in practice, as Liberals themselves admit, various factions end-run the rules by engaging in massive sign-ups in which organizers, rather than the prospective members, pay the $10 fees. That means that the faction with the most blank membership forms and the most money can win. Indeed, one of the keys to Martin's success over Chr�tien was his ability to change the party rules in key provinces so that � up until last February � Martinites had access to the largest number of blank forms. All that was needed then was money for the $10 fees. In B.C., where Liberal membership skyrocketed from 3,000 to about 40,000, that meant about $370,000. Some of this undoubtedly came from the new members themselves. But clearly, some did not...

So where did they get the money? Read the piece. Walkom gives you all the dots, and leaves you to connect them... Indeed, until Adscam broke, this was considered the monster scandal threatening to deep-six the government. Maybe it still is.