Ottawa — [. . . .] John Williams, chairman of the panel that has been investigating the sponsorship scandal, said Canadians can't sit quietly back and watch Mr. Guité, who is out of the country, [. . . . "thumbing] their nose at the Parliament of Canada," Mr. Williams, the public accounts committee chairman, said outside the House of Commons.

The Conservative MP suggested that his committee could issue a subpoena to get Mr. Guité to appear, or Canada Customs could even arrest him if and when he returns to Canada.

[. . . . He] acknowledged that the committee can do little if Mr. Guité remains permanently outside Canadian borders.

[. . . . ] Pierre Tremblay, the former executive director of the sponsorship program, is reported to be so ill that it is unclear whether he understood what was happening a month ago when he was given the Auditor-General's scathing report and asked to respond to its allegations.

[. . . . ] Ran Quail, a former deputy minister of Public Works, said last week that there was a "very direct relationship" between Mr. Guité and Mr. Gagliano.

Auditor-General Sheila Fraser also said that Mr. Guité was in charge of the daily management of the program from 1997 to 1999, but that Mr. Gagliano's office had the power to overturn decisions on specific sponsorship funding.

[. . . .] "It seems that he was doing everything, one person had all the powers," Mr. Gagliano told CTV News.

When Mr. Guité first appeared before the public accounts committee in 2002, he refused to reveal the content of any of his discussions that took place with Mr. Gagliano.

"He was quite specific that he wouldn't answer questions that had anything to do with dealings with ministers," New Democrat MP Pat Martin said after the meeting. "He said it was part of his loyalty to his former employers."