liberals can duck quick

How the Liberals ducked another scandal
The Gazette, March 05, 2006

As the Martin government braced for the Gomery report on the sponsorship scandal last fall, it also was worried about another potentially explosive controversy.

That situation involved contracts let improperly to a family company of Quebec Liberal MP David Smith and other "egregious" contracting irregularities by a federal agency called Consulting and Audit Canada, discovered by outside auditors.

Documents released since the January election show how seriously Ottawa was taking the emerging scandal.

Consulting and Audit Canada was dismantled. There were two police investigations, more forensic audits, and firings of three bureaucrats. Smith was exonerated of any conflict of interest by the House of Commons ethics commissioner.

The full picture is described in a report on here (Page A6).