PACP Committee Report

Glen Scott Shortliffe

Jocelyne Bourgon

Mel Cappe

Alexander Himelfarb

(1992-1994)

(1994-1999)

(1999-2002)

(2002 – present)

The Honourable G. Loiselle

The Honourable
J. S. Edwards

The Honourable Arthur Eggleton

The Honourable Marcel Massé

The Honourable Lucienne Robillard

The Honourable Reginald Alcock

(1990 – June 1993)

(June 1993 – Nov. 1993)

(November 1993 – January 1996)

(January 1996 – August 1999)

(August 1999 – December 2003)

(December 2003 – present)

Ian D. Clark

Robert J. Giroux

Peter Harder

Frank Claydon

Jim Judd

(Nov. 1989 – May 1994)

(May 1994 – Nov. 1995)

(November 1995 – April 2000)

(April 2000 – May 2002)

(May 2002 – December 2004)

The Honourable Elmer MacKay

The Honourable Paul W. Dick*

The Honourable David Dingwall

The Honourable
Diane Marleau

The Honourable Alfonso Gagliano

The Honourable Donald Boudria

The Honourable
Ralph Goodale

The Honourable Stephen Owen

(– November 1993)

(November 1993 – January 1996)

(January 1996 – June 1997)

(June 1997 – January 2002)

(January  – May 2002)

(May 2002 – December 2003)

(December 2003 – January 2005)

Ranald Quail
(1993 – April 2001)

Janice Cochrane
(April 2001 – June 2003)

David Marshall
(June 2003 – present)

Year

1997-1998

1998-1999

1999-2000      

2000-2001      

2001-2002      

2002-2003      

2003-2004

Sponsorship Spending

$46,3 million

$57,8 million

$47,8 million

$40,4 million

$42,0 million

$20,5 million

$14,0 million

FTEs

n/a

4 FTE

5 FTE

4 FTE

4 FTE 

20 FTE

40 FTE

Events

191
events

256
events

273
events

290
events

501
events

476
events

n/a

Advertising and Public Opinion Research Sector (APORS)

(1993 until November 1997)

Communications Coordination Services Branch  (CCSB)

(November 1997 – 31 August 2001)

Communication Canada

(1^st September 2001 – 31 March 2004)

Director, Advertising and Research:  C. Guité (– January 1995)

Executive Director:  C. Guité (November 1997 – August 1999)

Executive Director:  Guy McKenzie

Director General, APORS:  C. Guité (January 1995 – November 1997)

Pierre Tremblay (September 1999 – August 2001)

Ernst Young Audit of APORS

(until November 1996)

PWGSC internal audit of CCSB and Action Plan

(March 2000 – 31 March 2002)

Office of the Auditor General: May 2002 and November 2003 reports.

PWGSC: follow-up of internal audit, review of files, and implementation measures related to sponsorship program

(May 2002 – November 2003)

Sponsorship and advertising Reform (April 2003)

Sponsorship – contribution program

1997

Sponsorship program created to enhance visibility and positive perception of the federal government.

November 1997 -

Administration of Sponsorship program transferred to newly created Communications Co-ordination Services Branch (CCSB) under the direction of Charles (“Chuck”) Guité, who retired in 1999.

August 2000 -

PWGSC Internal audit of sponsorship program.

October 2000 –

PWGSC Management Action Plan on August 200 Sponsorship Internal Audit.

September 2001 –

Program transferred to Communications Canada.

March 2002 –

PWGSC’s Audit and Ethics Branch completed follow-up review of the August 2000 internal audit report of the sponsorship files.

March 2002 –

Auditor General of Canada, Ms. Sheila Fraser, was asked to review three contracts awarded to Groupaction between 1996 and 1999.

May 2002 –

Auditor General released her audit report on the three contracts.  Ms. Fraser referred these contracts to the RCMP for further investigation.

May 2002 –

PWGSC undertook an initiative to scrutinize the Sponsorship program.  Under the direction of the Chief Financial Officer, a Quick Response Team was assembled, comprising financial, procurement and audit specialists from within PWGSC.

May 2002 –

The former Prime Minister asked the President of the Treasury Board to make recommendations on how sponsorship, advertising and polling could be better managed to ensure value for money.

May 2002 –

Former Minister Ralph Goodale implements an immediate moratorium on future sponsorship initiatives.

June 2002 –

Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) met with Ms. Janice Cochrane, former Deputy Minister of PWGSC, and indicated to the Committee that an Administrative Review was being carried out to determine the level of compliance with the Financial Administration Act, and the departmental policies of Treasury Board and PWGSC.

July 2002 –

Former Minister Ralph Goodale lifts the moratorium on the sponsorship program for the balance of the fiscal year.  The program resumed, without the involvement of communications agencies as third party intermediaries of an Agency of Record, pending the outcome of the TBS review.

September 2002 –

The RCMP executed search warrants at the Groupaction offices, which are located in Montreal.  The following day, the RCMP executed two more search warrants at a Montreal-area branch and warehouse. 

October 2002 –

The Quick Response Team delivers its Final Project Report to the Minister.

October 2002 –

Former Deputy Minister of PWGSC launches administrative review.

December 2002 –

President of the Treasury Board and the then Minister responsible for PWGSC and Communication Canada jointly announce key changes to the sponsorship program.

February 2003 –

The former Deputy Minister of PWGSC extends administrative review to the balance of files of primary interest.

March 2003 –

Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA) submits its report on the three Groupaction contracts.

April 2003 –

Changes to the way advertising is managed by the Government of Canada are announced, following consultations with advertising industry and other stakeholders.

August 2003 –

Government Response to the SCOPA report.

September 2003 –

RCMP announces the laying of charges against Paul Coffin of Communication Coffin.

December 2003 –

The Prime Minister announces the cancellation of the program and the dismantling of Communications Canada.

February 2004 –

The Auditor General releases her report on the Sponsorship Program, Advertising and Public Opinion Research.  Referred to the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (SCOPA).  The Government has taken steps to see that SCOPA is being struck early to immediately begin receiving and reviewing the Auditor General’s report on the sponsorship program.

February 2004 –

The Minister of PWGSC announces the establishment of an independent commission of public inquiry into the Auditor General’s report examining past sponsorship and advertising activities with a view of formulating recommendations to prevent any abuses, breaches of ethics or mismanagement in the future.  This inquiry is to be headed by the Honourable John H. Gomery, a Quebec Superior Court Judge.

March 2004 –

The government appointed a special counsel for financial recovery. Mr. André Gauthier, mandated to pursue all possible avenues, including civil litigation, to recover funds that were improperly received by certain parties involved in the delivery of the now cancelled Sponsorship Program.

April 2004 –

The federal government announced changes aimed at enhancing transparency, accountability, value-for-money and increased competition in the government’s management of advertising activities.