OTTAWA - At least $2-million in public money intended for the Bluenose, Canada's most famous sailing ship, has disappeared through the scandal-plagued sponsorship program, Public Works Minister Stephen Owen admitted yesterday.
[. . . .] Records from Public Works show the Bluenose trust was granted $2.3-million in 1997-98 through the sponsorship program. The way the program normally worked, Lafleur would take a commission -- typically between 12% and 15% -- and pass the rest on to the Bluenose trust.
But records filed by the trust with the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency in 1997-98 indicate the Bluenose II received only $294,389 from the federal government that year. That leaves about $2-million missing.
[. . . .] In 1996, the charity received $359,000 from the federal sponsorship program, Mr. Moore told The Chronicle Herald in Halifax. But Public Works' official records of the program only begin in the 1997-98 fiscal year.
Mr. Moore has admitted talking about the sponsorship program with Chuck Guite [. . . .]
In 1997-98, in addition to the $2.3-million contract, two other contracts worth more than $500,000 were granted under the heading "Bluenose" by the sponsorship program. Yet the total in federal government grants declared by the Bluenose charity that year is less than $300,000.
In 1998-99, Public Works records show $360,618 in grants associated with the Bluenose II, funnelled through the communications companies Lafleur and Gosselin. But the charity lists no federal government funding in its annual tax declaration.
In 2000-01 and 2001-02, the charity similarly lists no federal government funding. However, records from Communications Canada, which took over the sponsorship program in 2000, reveal the Bluenose trust got two grants during that time, one for $100,000 and one for $50,000.
Tony Blom, president of the advertising company Compass Communications, said his firm worked on those two contracts, earning a 12% commission for helping to organize events and promote the Bluenose as it toured East Coast ports.
