Canadian Liberals and the Drain.

A part of me knows it should not be satisfying to watch the careers of civic-minded people slowly circle the drain. But I recall writing several days ago that this situation of Adscam was like knowing a car wreck was going to happen and getting a good seat in advance. It has happened. The response from the Liberals has been frenetic (to be kind) and the feeding frenzy is just beginning. The sad part is knowing honest and good people will be painted guilty through association; the good part is knowing those who profess "I knew nothing" will be flushed (read, "Chretien, Martin").

When (not if) the elections happen this summer, you will know the depth of voter disdain by the number of seats the Conservative party picks up in Quebec. You can't project the percentage growth because it is mathematically impossible to divide anything by zero. But the NDP has always seemed a little fringe and the BQ's are too single issue (in the voters' minds) - so that leaves the Conservatives. Ironic, isn't it? The Libs lose their plurality government through seats lost in Quebec when the Adscam Scandal was focused on spending money there to keep the country together. Perhaps they won the battle but lost the war.

The Ottawa Sun is seeking to widen the net of corruption to include the gun registry program. Good call. From many folks that have spoken with me, that program differed from Adscam only in that Adscam involved less money.

This story isn't very newsworthy, but you know you are in trouble when Communist China writes factually about your problems. They are going to show disrespect anyway - but it is usually done with arguments so twisted and convoluted that only an unmedicated schizophrenic convinced of conspiracy theories involving six gunmen shooting at JKF and falsified Moon landings would nod knowingly. So when they give a straight-forward news article, you know you're in trouble.

How far does the fallout go? Charest may be gone (Quebec's Premier) and McGuinty is being offered as a sacrifice (Ontario's Premier). Will these gentlemen be offed? Doesn't matter, really - the real point is to look at the breadth of the damage so far. It seems appropriate for the G&M to speculate that far (I know, the G&M loves to speculate, but still).

The Winnipeg Sun handicaps this week's testimony expected from Jacques Corriveau, a "golfing buddy" of Chretien.

Finally, the Vancouver Sun gives an utterly boring but ultimately informative discussion.