But Pierre Pettigrew apparently didn't know, or care to know, if he was getting dirty money, once visions of Parliament and Cabinet started dancing in his head:
Pierre Pettigrew was unaware that as a private-sector consultant in 1995, he indirectly received funds to promote national unity from a controversial group called Option Canada.
The Foreign Affairs Minister, who is once again running for the Liberals in this election, said over the weekend that he had a $12,000 contract with the Canadian Unity Council to prepare studies on the impact of Quebec sovereignty ahead of the 1995 referendum.
"My client was the Council for Canadian Unity," he told reporters. "My work was analysis. For example, I did reports on the impact of Quebec independence on certain industrial sectors." Mr. Pettigrew was an international business consultant before entering politics in 1996. He said he was not aware that Option Canada existed when he did the work for the CUC, and said he was unaware of the origins of the funds for his contract.
"What I was interested in was that the Council for Canadian Unity paid me. How it was financed, is for you to look into," he told reporters, showing the invoice he had sent to the CUC.
Let's see. Top Quebec Liberal, about to be named one of the two saviours of federalism, inside one the most incestuous political organization in Canada, and getting a lot of referendum-related business from the federal government, had no idea who was really paying him.
If the Bloc and PQ knew about Option Canada's links to the CUC, it's safe to assume that the top Liberals in Quebec did as well.
Really, Pierre.
Globe and Mail
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