Montreal—Canadian taxpayers were billed more than $1.5 million for reports worth $50,000 or less, says a former executive at a Montreal ad firm now co-operating in the RCMP investigation of the Liberal government's sponsorship program.

"I'd say that you might have been able to do the same work for even $25,000," said Alain Richard, a former executive of Groupaction, a Montreal ad firm under investigation in the $250 million controversy. "Even then, you would have been happy with that piece of business for the amount of work it took — maybe three or four days."

One of the few past executives of Groupaction to speak on the record, Richard said that he was twice contacted by RCMP investigators, who are probing three federal contracts of $1.6 million to the firm.

Auditor-General Sheila Fraser says it is one of a number of Liberal party connected companies that squandered $100 million in taxpayers' money.

In an interview, Richard described astronomical profits and a champagne-style life at Groupaction. . . . fresh-cut flowers and executives enjoyed long, liquid lunches, often billed to the government without any real work being done. . . . $125 bottles of wine, two or three or more, where you'd sit and not really talk about anything," he recalled.

[. . . .] Richard recalled yesterday that he had seen then-public works minister Alfonso Gagliano numerous times while he was working at Groupaction.

[. . . .] Richard was fired at the end of 1997, a dismissal he says came after he asked questions about the sponsorship contracts and the bills submitted to Ottawa.

He said the Mounties, in late 2002, took him to their headquarters to review evidence they had collected, including three reports called Visibility Canada, which they took out of plastic evidence bags.

The reports, he said, were Groupaction products that presented lists of potential places that Ottawa could advertise its logo, as part of the $250 million sponsorship program to push national unity in Quebec after the 1995 referendum.

Richard said that aside from a different introduction and covering letters, which would have represented little work, the reports were identical and contained information that could have been easily lifted from the Internet. He said it would have taken only a few days for company employees to format that information into the reports he saw.

[. . . . The] Mounties showed him an invoice suggesting he had worked more than 300 hours on the Visibility Canada reports. The time was billed to the government at more than $50,000.

"I told them I had never worked on any government accounts," Richard said.

*** In fact, recent Quebec press reports put all three friends -- Ouellet, Lapierre and Lafleur -- at a sumptuous party which was hosted by Lafleur at the Montreal Casino where rare wines, fine cigars and foie gras were consumed.

Other reports claim that Mr. Lapierre has worked for Mr. Lafleur.

Living la dolce vita is something Mr. Ouellet has done ever since he agreed to get out of Mr. Chretien's way in 1996 by giving up his safe seat for a Chretien favorite, Pierre Pettigrew. His reward was the chairman's job at Canada Post which led to the CEO's job after capable CEO Georges Clermont, who says he was pushed out.

Mr. Ouellet ended up with the CEO's job in 1999 where it is rumoured he will make $500,000 this year in salary and bonuses. If true, this makes him Ottawa's highest paid civil servant. ***

Why hasn't Prime Minister Paul Martin fired Andre Ouellet, top trough artist and head of Canada Post? Why was he the only crown corporation CEO who was suspended with pay even though the Auditor-General's report on Adscam shows his crown corporation is more implicated than most in the sponsorship scandal?

The kid gloves treatment is due to a number of factors which link Paul Martin to the Liberal culture of corruption that he is trying to distance himself from.

For starters, Mr. Ouellet is a closeted Martin supporter, according to sources. Both men supported John Turner as opposed to Jean Chretien in that leadership tangle.

Both [Martin and Ouellet] are fans of Jean Lapierre, Ouellet's protege and friend who began as his aide, ran as a Liberal and became a Bloc Quebecois MP. Mr. Lapierre left politics and has been wooed out of his broadcast and consultancy career by Paul Martin to become his Quebec lieutenant and fixer. His candidacy was announced just before the sponsorship scandal broke.

Unfortunately, another one of Mr. Lapierre's and Mr. Ouellet's pals is at the epicentre of the scandal, Jean Lafleur of Lafleur Communications, now part of Groupaction. In fact, recent Quebec press reports put all three friends -- Ouellet, Lapierre and Lafleur -- at a sumptuous party which was hosted by Lafleur at the Montreal Casino where rare wines, fine cigars and foie gras were consumed.

Other reports claim that Mr. Lapierre has worked for Mr. Lafleur.

Living la dolce vita is something Mr. Ouellet has done ever since he agreed to get out of Mr. Chretien's way in 1996 by giving up his safe seat for a Chretien favorite, Pierre Pettigrew. His reward was the chairman's job at Canada Post which led to the CEO's job after capable CEO Georges Clermont, who says he was pushed out.
Mr. Ouellet ended up with the CEO's job in 1999 where it is rumoured he will make $500,000 this year in salary and bonuses. If true, this makes him Ottawa's highest paid civil servant.

[. . . .] Fraser writes, for example, "We are concerned about a lack of documentation to support payments made by Canada Post for the Maurice Richard [television] series. Canada Post paid L'Information essentielle $1,625,000 (plus taxes) with no signed contract. There was no signed proposal or written business case to support the decision to spend $1,625,000."

With such evidence at hand, it's incomprehensible that Paul Martin has not given Andre Ouellet a pink slip instead of a paid vacation. Why?