Are we near the bottom yet? (cont'd)

More from the frontlines of the Liberals' effort to "get to the bottom" of Adscam... From the Public Accounts committee:

Conservative MPs said a mounting pile of conflicting testimony from former public works minister Alfonso Gagliano and other witnesses who have appeared before the public accounts committee highlights the need for all relevant papers to be released. On Tuesday, the Liberal majority on the inquiry blocked the release of documents, including phone records that could detail the extent of conversations between former public works minister Mr. Gagliano and the retired civil servant who managed the sponsorship program, Chuck Guité.... Even the fact that the parliamentary inquiry is aiming to produce an interim report on the sponsorship scandal by the end of April has apparently fallen victim to partisan politics. Opposition MP and committee member Diane Ablonczy said Monday the Liberals have blown a simple summary report out of proportion to serve their election needs. “The committee decided to do up a summary of the evidence so far that would help question some of the other big players still to appear,” Ms. Ablonczy said. “Suddenly Liberal communications spin has this little summary of evidence morphing into a full blown committee report. Is this shameless Liberal spin because they are desperate to say there's been a report so that they can call a spring election?”

From John Ivison:

Gagliano's defence -- that he was not aware of any problems with the sponsorship program until the 2000 audit, and even then was convinced it was merely an administrative glitch -- is similar to that offered by the Prime Minister. Paul Martin has maintained the 2000 audit uncovered "administrative" problems "completely different from the problems that emerged later." However, [top Public Works auditor Norman] Steinberg's testimony yesterday made it clear the internal audit found problems that were remarkably like those uncovered by the Auditor-General.

From the federal Integrity Officer:

Prime Minister Paul Martin's whistleblower legislation is "so fatally flawed" that it not only discourages public servants from exposing corruption but it fails to cover political staff, the RCMP and national security bureaucrats, critics said yesterday... Although the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act, which was tabled on March 22, creates a public service integrity commissioner, the office does not report directly to Parliament but to a minister, which compromises its independence, according to Edward Keyserlingk, the federal Integrity Officer. "The commission is not established as an agency of Parliament but essentially as an office within the executive of government and that means it also does not have [the] investigative power that normally goes along with a legislatively established body," he said. Mr. Keyserlingk said the bill does not give him subpoena powers, access to Cabinet documents or authority to investigate ministers' offices. As well, private-sector executives doing business with the government are not covered nor are the RCMP and Canadian spies, who could expose abuses of power. Mr. Keyserlingk also noted public servants who face reprisals for speaking out must seek redress through government labour tribunals rather than the integrity commission. "People will not be encouraged to come forward."

From the Senate:

MPs were "asleep at the switch" last week as the government sneaked through a highly unusual bill approving $50-billion in spending through to December, says Senator Lowell Murray. Mr. Murray, whose Senate finance committee will give the legislation a second look today, said the bill allowed Paul Martin to bypass the normal spending review process to prepare for a spring election. "There wasn't even a peep out of any of them," Mr. Murray said of the MPs. "I find it appalling the way they've conducted themselves." Reg Alcock, the Treasury Board Minister, introduced the bill shortly after 7 p.m. last Monday and the bill went through all stages in less than half an hour...

And of course, from shadowy Martin advisers:

The Liberal election platform is almost completed awaiting only Paul Martin's final stamp of approval amid growing speculation the federal election could be called in the next few weeks for a mid-to-late May vote. Senior Liberal strategists were satisfied with the most recent round of polling, released on the weekend, showing slight gains for the Grits in Quebec, and wide margins over the Conservatives in both Ontario and Atlantic Canada. Parliament will sit until the end of this week, take its regularly scheduled two-week Easter break, and then hit the campaign trail shortly after, sources say.