Largs
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Location: Ontario
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| Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2005 2:11 pm Post subject: Judge postpones frau |
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MONTREAL - A judge in Quebec has agreed to postpone the criminal trial of two key figures in the federal sponsorship scandal by one month, a decision that could keep in place a publication ban on potentially explosive testimony heard at the Gomery inquiry.
Jury selection was scheduled to begin May 2 in the joint trial of advertising executive Jean Brault and retired bureaucrat Chuck Guit?, who was responsible for running the sponsorship program in the 1990s. Lawyers for the two men had asked that the criminal proceedings be put off until September.
But Quebec Superior Court Justice Lise C?t? ruled Wednesday that the criminal proceedings be put off until June 6.
A delay in the trial until September could have prompted Justice John Gomery, head of the sponsorship inquiry, to remove the ban on publishing the testimony Brault has given at the inquiry. But it's not clear what effect a delay of one month will have on Gomery's decision.
Gomery is expected to rule on the ban on Wednesday afternoon.
Gomery imposed the ban to try to ensure that Brault and Guit? receive a fair hearing at their fraud trial.
Brault is a former head of Groupaction Marketing, one of the firms that played a major role in the sponsorship program.
Some members of Parliament have said the evidence could be extremely damaging to the Liberal minority government, fuelling speculation that the opposition parties could use the information to bring about a quick election.
The inquiry is looking into the $250-million sponsorship program, which was intended to promote national unity, and to discourage separatism in Quebec.
In her report in February 2004, Auditor General Sheila Fraser said an estimated $100 million in commissions under the program went to Liberal-friendly ad agencies for little or no work.
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