A good defense for Warren Kinsella

I'm watching the tv show GlobalSunday right now with National Post Editor Diane Francis, and legendary (or should I say infamous?) Liberal "rat-packer" Sheila Copps. They are talking about AdScam.

I can't believe how incredibly reasonable Sheila sounds. I feel like someone should hit me to knock some sense into me... Well mostly.

At one point Sheila starts talking about how she saw a lot of secrecy in the Liberal Party when she ran for the nomination of her riding. You see Sheila ran a desperate, some would say foolish campaign, against Paul Martin for the leadership of the Liberal Party. Martin ended up getting 94% of the vote. And, not being satisfied with keeping 6% opposition, Martin used his heavy control of the internal organization of the Liberal Party to run Sheila Copps straight out of politics. And Sheila blamed her loss on Martin's tight grip on the party. That tight grip included a secretive culture dominated by Paul Martin supporters.

But in this edition of GlobalSunday, it's almost as if she's saying that it was this "culture of secrecy" in the Liberal Party that lead to AdScam. In other words AdScam was not caused by former Prime Minister Jean Chretien, it was Paul Martin's control over the Liberal Party that created AdScam.

Warren Kinsella, who always seems to be looking at ways to defend Jean Chretien's legacy in the face of the corruption now apparent through his tenure, should take a look at Sheila's argument.

At least this argument seems plausible. To suggest that AdScam was somehow necessary for the country, or that the Gomery inquiry is manufacturing this evidence is a fantasy obsession the he would best to get over.