Meanwhile, back at Gomery...

Jacques Corriveau, a close friend of Jean Chrétien who made $8-million in sponsorship subcontracts, candidly told an official at the Quebec Liberal party wing that he had set up a kickback system, the Gomery inquiry heard Wednesday. Daniel Dezainde, who was the director-general of the Liberal Quebec wing in 2001, said that the admission came during a lunch he had with Mr. Corriveau. He said Mr. Corriveau told him: “In the past, I set up a system of kickbacks with communication agencies and I kept a part of it for my expenses and I made the rest available for the party.”... In other testimony, Mr. Dezainde says he was introduced to Mr. [Joe] Morselli and was told he was “the real boss,” and advised not to antagonize him. Mr. Dezainde said he was baffled because Mr. Morselli had no official title. Mr. Dezainde said Benoît Corbeil, his predecessor, introduced him to Mr. Morselli, a close friend of the former public works minister [Alfonso Gagliano]. The meeting over espresso was at Frank's restaurant, made famous as the place where Mr. [Jean] Brault left an envelope of cash on the table... Mr. Dezainde also said that Mr. Gagliano, who was the party's top political organizer for Quebec, had told him that if he had any “needs” he should talk either to Mr. Morselli or to the minister's chief of staff, Jean-Marc Bard... At lunch at Frank, he was told by Mr. Morselli to send him the bills “so he can determine what can be paid, and when.” “Not only you didn't know where the money came from but you no longer had the ability to manage your organization. So what's the point of being there?” Mr. Dezainde said... Mr. Dezainde told the inquiry: “Have you ever seen the Twilight Zone TV series? It was like that.”

Marc-Yvan Côté, the Liberals' top organizer for eastern Quebec, distributed $60,000 in cash to several party candidates gathered in Shawinigan for the launch of Jean Chrétien's riding campaign in the 1997 election, the Gomery inquiry heard yesterday. Mr. Côté's testimony came after another Liberal executive, Benoît Corbeil, testified that the $50,000 cash payments he gave to eight election workers in the 2000 election paled next to broader, illicit operations that the party routinely deployed during federal votes... Mr. Chrétien's riding was among those that benefited from special attention in that campaign, Mr. Corbeil said, as were those of eventual cabinet ministers Denis Coderre and Hélène Scherrer. All the ridings were won by Liberals... Mr. Côté, told the inquiry that the cash he handed out came from $120,000 in cash given to him by party executive Michel Béliveau, who was Mr. Chrétien's long-time riding organizer. Mr. Côté is the third top Liberal executive to confirm at the inquiry that the party used secret, unlawful sources of funding to finance its campaign activities. He said he received a total of $120,000 in cash from Mr. Béliveau [yet another director-general of the Liberal party in Quebec, preceding Corbeil], who personally handed him a first $60,000 instalment in Montreal in "a well-padded enveloped" full of $100 bills. Mr. Côté said he kept the money overnight in a briefcase, then parcelled it into envelopes of $5,000 to $10,000 that he gave to nine needy eastern candidates who happened to be among those gathered in Shawinigan for the launch of Mr. Chrétien's campaign. The money covered their electoral expenses, he said.

Corbeil said then-public works minister Alfonso Gagliano ran a team of 30 "fake volunteers" who included ministerial aides as well as lawyers and engineers on loan to the party. "There were two sections at the headquarters - there was the registered section, where I worked, and there was the unregistered section," Corbeil told the inquiry. "Anyone who says they weren't aware of it... either they've lost their memory or they aren't telling the truth. Can I be any clearer?"

Anyone. SO MUCH TO TALK ABOUT, SO LITTLE MANDATE:

Corbeil said he saw a similar setup in Chretien's riding, but he was cut off when Gomery said the Liberal staffing practices were outside the commission's mandate to probe the sponsorship program...

When Corbeil tried to take his testimony further and talk about political interference by top Liberals beyond the sponsorship program, Justice Gomery would not allow it... He said discussions about the appointment of judges was far beyond his mandate.