Globe and Mail: Guité details intervention by Martin

The Globe gets the award for first news organization not to bury or ignore the lede:

When he was still finance minister, Paul Martin was one of three cabinet ministers who intervened to make sure that a Toronto ad agency wouldn't lose its lucrative government contracts if it was to be sold to a foreign conglomerate, the Gomery inquiry has been told.

Of course, it wouldn't be the Globe if it left it to that. There follows an appropriate cautionary note --

While troubling, the allegation against Mr. Martin is based on hearsay from someone who has since died and cannot be called before the inquiry.

Then a bit of gratuitous editorial commentary --

However, any allegation involving Mr. Martin will likely be seized on by opposition politicians keener on attacking the current prime minister than talking about the more substantial accusations against his predecessor's entourage.

But redeems itself by placing the story in a larger context:

Beyond the allegation involving Mr. Martin, Mr. Guité's testimony was a sweeping indictment of a federal procurement system which, he said, was geared toward rewarding friends of the party in power with profitable ad contracts. The incidents Mr. Guité described began before the 1995 Quebec referendum and involved firms outside Quebec, undermining former prime minister Jean Chrétien's contention that irregularities stemming from the sponsorship program were justified in the fight for national unity.

Of course, there is that nagging question of Guité's credibility:

Mr. Guité, who has been charged with fraud, admitted before to lying and breaking rules. Guy Pratte, the lawyer for former Chrétien aide Jean Pelletier, told Mr. Guité: "Why should we believe anything you say now?"

Still, you can't say his story lacks for detail, or colourful characters:

Sometime before the Oct. 30, 1995, referendum, Mr. Guité said, he got a call from Warren Kinsella, Mr. Dingwall's executive assistant, who told him "there's a gentleman the minister wants you to meet."

Who was that gentleman? Why, Jacques Corriveau: you know, Mr. In-Between. Guité says Dingwall -- who you'll recall has no memory of meeting Guité -- told him: "You will look after him." The rest, as they say, is his story.