2 mars 2004
'Inappropriate' remarks about whistle-blower did him in
MARIA MCCLINTOCK
OTTAWA BUREAU
OTTAWA -- The head of Via Rail was fired yesterday for making "inappropriate" remarks about Olympic gold medalist Myriam Bedard, who blew the whistle about cash being paid to a Quebec-based ad firm at the centre of the sponsorship scandal. Jean Pelletier, who had been a top aide to former prime minister Jean Chretien, was dumped as the railway's chairman of the board effective immediately.
It's the second time in a week that Via has lost a senior executive.
"It is completely unacceptable for the chairman of a Crown corporation to make comments of this nature about someone identifying wrongdoing in the workplace," said Transport Minister Tony Valeri.
Last week Bedard said she was forced to quit her marketing job at Via in 2002 after she raised questions about how much Quebec-based ad agency Groupaction was charging for work it was doing for the Crown corporation. Groupaction was one of the ad agencies highlighted in Auditor General Sheila Fraser's 2002 audit.
Pelletier quickly slammed Bedard's version of events.
"I don't want to be mean to her, but she is a poor girl, I pity her, a girl who doesn't have a husband that I know of," he told La Presse Friday.
Prime Minister Paul Martin called Pelletier's remarks "unacceptable."
"When an individual wishes to come forward with information on the issue of sponsorship, that individual should be able to do so," Martin said yesterday from New York.
Bedard, who met with senior Martin adviser Francis Fox yesterday, was told action was going to be taken.
"It's good news," she said. "I was thinking of all the single women, with children at home, that were going to work this morning at Via Rail and meeting Mr. Pelletier ... what's going to be the feeling?"
Bedard said she's prepared to testify at the public accounts committee probing the scandal.
Conservative MP Peter MacKay applauded the swift action.
"Three years ago, Madame Bedard was forced from her Via Rail job for refusing to participate in a scheme that squandered hard-earned tax dollars," he said. "It is refreshing to finally see positive action taken to punish Mr. Pelletier."
Via president Marc LaFrancois was suspended last week along with the Business Development Bank President Michel Vennat after another auditor general's report found that $100-million was being funnelled to Liberal-friendly ad agencies.
page mise en ligne le 2 mars 2004 par SVP
