A former Liberal Party of Canada organizer in Quebec has been convicted of fraud and sentenced to four-years in prison for his part in the so-called Adscam scandal more than 12 years ago. Jacques Corriveau is 83 and it is an open question as to just how long he will serve. In fact he was released on bail later in the day pending an appeal. But it is a bitter end to a life in politics. Corriveau swindled the federal government of an estimated $1.4 million. He has been given ten years to pay it back as a Montreal court rendered its verdict Wednesday morning. Again, it seems like an open question as to how repayment will happen. The crimes Corriveau was convicted of occurred between 1997 and 2003 and were related to what became known as the sponsorship scandal (or Adscam) and which eventually helped bring down the Liberal government in 2006.
HOW IT WORKED
The program ran from 1996 until 2004, when broad corruption was discovered in its operations and the program was discontinued. Illicit and even illegal activities within the administration of the program were revealed, involving misuse and misdirection of public funds intended for government advertising in Quebec. Such misdirections included sponsorship money awarded to Liberal Party-linked ad firms in return for little or no work, in which firms maintained Liberal organizers or fundraisers on their payrolls or donated back part of the money to the Liberal Party. The resulting investigations and scandal affected the Liberal Party of Canada and the then-government of Prime Minister Paul Martin. It was an ongoing affair for years, but rose to national prominence in early 2004 after the program was examined by Sheila Fraser, the federal auditor general.
