Can Paul Martin pull the trigger?

Writing in the Globe and Mail (April 15, 2005, "Can Paul Martin pull the trigger?") former B.C. Liberal leader Gordon Gibson has put the proverbial cat among the pigeons. It's time to pin the tail on the donkey.

Harry Truman, one of the better U.S. presidents, had a sign on his desk: "The buck stops here." On all great questions within his area, he took responsibility.

Since Dec. 12, 2003, the same sign has been on the Martin desk. But before that? The buck stopped not "here," but there -- at the desk of one Jean Chrétien. That is where the Gomery train should arrive.

Prime ministers set the tone for their governments. These corrupt and sleazy dealings could never have happened unless the perpetrators sensed a certain laxity or tolerance at the top. Failings in accountability fall to a Prime Minister as well. And this could not be more certain than with respect to a program personally established by Jean Chrétien.

Mr. Martin made a mistake when he was sworn in. He should have at once made public the Auditor-General’s report that brought this scandal to the surface and referred it to the RCMP.

It couldn’t be tabled in Parliament as the rules require, Mr. Chrétien having cleverly shut it down days before. Never mind -- give it to the Speaker, give it to the public. Early disclosure is not a hanging offence. And the former PM would have been left carrying his own soiled baggage.

Mr. Martin can still make this argument, but will he? It would reopen a bitter civil war in the Liberal party. Never mind -- that war would be short, and then over. Lop off the rotten branch, then renewal. Either this, or risk an end as a footnote to history.