Gagliano was just a scapegoat

By LYSIANE GAGNON
G&M Monday, January 21, 2002 – Page A13

Canada's national blood sport, these past few days, has been to make fun of former Public Works minister Alfonso Gagliano. But what's new? As soon as they smell blood, the wolves rush to the wounded animal to finish it off. Human beings are worse because they go on even after they're satiated.

It's easy to kick someone who's already disgraced, especially if the person, a former Sicilian immigrant who brashly (and bravely) made his way to the top, can fit the stereotype of a smalltime Godfather. And never mind if he is a scapegoat for someone higher up the pecking order.

Mr. Gagliano might be guilty of influence-peddling, a minor sin routinely committed by most people who wield a bit of power in politics or business. Why, even Jon Grant, the former chairman of Canada Lands who blew the whistle on Mr. Gagliano, is a political appointee who owed his post to his Liberal connections.

What is much more troubling is the behaviour of Mr. Gagliano's boss. Let's compare facts.

Mr. Gagliano recommended two of his friends to Canada Lands Co., a Crown corporation that controls publicly owned real estate. Neither of them was unqualified for those jobs. Tony Mignacca had worked in property management in a large Montreal school board for 25 years. Michèle Tremblay, who got a contract to write speeches for Mr. Gagliano in his role as minister responsible for Canada Lands, has more than 30 years experience in journalism and public relations.

Mr. Chrétien, on the other hand, repeatedly asked the head of the Business Development Bank of Canada to override the bank's own policy and award a $615,000 loan to a debt-ridden hotel owned by a former business partner. The first request for a loan for the Auberge Grand-Mère had been turned down. The project was obviously unqualified to receive half a million dollars in public funds.

In his dealings with Canada Lands, Mr. Gagliano was never more than a simple cabinet minister. But when the pressure comes from the Prime Minister, it's a completely different story. Canada Lands chairman Jon Grant could have resisted Mr. Gagliano. The president of the BDC, facing the all-powerful Prime Minister, was in a much more difficult position.

In helping his many friends, Mr. Gagliano didn't stand to make financial gains. Mr. Chrétien, however, had a financial stake in the future of the Auberge Grand-Mère, if only because the hotel was adjacent to a money-losing golf club that he co-owned (he still hadn't been paid for a sale concluded several years earlier).

The terrorism crisis put "Shawinigate" on a back burner. But it resurfaced two weeks ago, after Mr. Grant had blown the whistle on Mr. Gagliano. The patronage issue was snowballing and Mr. Chrétien had to act quickly to squelch a controversy that threatened to bring back the Shawinigan dealings to the front page.

We already know that political interference led to public funds being squandered in Shawinigan. But Mr. Grant, after having accused Mr. Gagliano and his aids of political interference, never substantiated his accusations and never said exactly what the concrete consequences of the interference were.

Every week, a new story surfaces about yet another questionable deal at Canada Lands, but who should be blamed? The minister, or the man whose job it was to supervise the daily operations of the corporation? None of the alleged cases of fraud within the corporation can be linked to Mr. Gagliano.

Could it be that in turning the spotlight on Mr. Gagliano, Mr. Grant was passing the buck in order to cover his own mismanagement?

lysiane.gagnon@lapresse.ca