Gossip Mongers
I do love Pierre Bourque’s site, but at times the “breaking news” insider rumours of his can be a bit over the top (“Bernard Lord ready to run!!!”). According to his latest update, “persons close to Prime Minister Paul Martin are looking for ways to put the kibosh on the long-running Gomery Adscam Inquiry”.
Now, as politically inept as “persons close to Prime Minister Paul Martin” are, I can’t believe that “persons close to Prime Minister Paul Martin” would be this stupid. If persons close to Prime Minister Paul Martin were to “kibosh” the inquiry, we all know that the next day there would be a non-confidence motion in the House of Commons and an election where the Bloc and Conservatives would have the campaign issue of a lifetime.
That said, I think there may be some truth behind Pierre’s rumours in that persons close to Prime Minister Paul Martin are likely having some regrets about the inquiry. Given the heaps of money burned by the inquiry, the performance of the Judge, and the lack of new information that’s been unearthed, Martin and friends are finally starting to realize what an incredibly stupid idea it was to set up the inquiry in the first place. Hell, it didn’t even succeed in embarrassing Jean Chretien – that was likely its main purpose in the eyes of many in the PMO.
But, right or wrong, Gomery is here to stay. Persons close to Prime Minister Paul Martin set it up, and persons close to Prime Minister Paul Martin are going to have to live with the consequences.