Chrtien aide linked to sponsorship scandal

Last Updated Wed, 03 Mar 2004 13:53:25

OTTAWA - One of former prime minister Jean Chr‚tien's closest aides
approved one of the transactions in the federal sponsorship program,
according to a document released on Tuesday. Jean Carle, a former
vice-president of marketing at the Business Development Bank of Canada, was
one of two senior executives who authorized the payment of $375,000 for the
creation of the television program Le Canada du mill‚naire. The program was
a series of TV spots that celebrated the turn of the millennium.

In her report tabled last month, Auditor General Sheila Fraser revealed
that two advertising firms received $18,750 in commissions for transferring
$125,000 from the BDC to the television production company. She said the
transaction was done without any written contract or agreement. "The
true nature of the transaction was hidden by the structure of the
transfers," she said in her report.

On Tuesday, a document relating to the transaction was submitted by the BDC
to the parliamentary committee investigating the sponsorship program. The
document given to the public accounts committee identifies Carle and
Christiane Beaulieu, another executive who has since left the BDC, as
approving the project. Carle, considered a close friend to Chr‚tien, was
director of operations for the former prime minister from 1993 to 1997
before going to the BDC.

Last month, Carle was singled out by a Quebec Superior Court judge as
having been behind a malicious campaign at the BDC to remove Franois
Beaudoin as its president. Beaudoin won a lawsuit against his former
employer, claiming he was the victim of a political attack and forced to
resign.


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