Jean Lafleur

He was the long-time head of Lafleur Communication Marketing, a company that relied almost solely on government work under both the Conservatives and Liberals. The firm was bought last year by Groupaction.

Claude Boulay

He is the president of Groupe Everest, a company that was long associated with former Conservative leader and current Quebec Liberal Leader Jean Charest. A subsidiary of Everest acts as the government agency of record, placing all government ads on television, radio and newspapers. Everest is also a major player in the government's sponsorship program.

Jean Brault

He is the founder and president of Groupaction Marketing Inc., a company that recently bought two other major federal advertisers, Lafleur and Gosselin. Groupaction was one of the government's favourite advertisers, but it has been losing business after coming under investigation in March for giving two similar contracts worth $1.1-million to the government.

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS

Alfonso Gagliano

He was minister of Public Works from July, 1997 to January, 2002, at the same time as he acted as the chief Liberal organizer in Quebec. After he was accused of political interference, he was named ambassador to Denmark in a January cabinet shuffle.

Don Boudria

The new Minister of Public Works, he is trying to solve the administrative and political mess left behind by his predecessor, while insisting Mr. Gagliano did nothing wrong.

Joseph Charles (Chuck) Guité

After a military career, he became the top civil servant in charge of the government's advertising program, from the late days of the Conservative government until 1999.

Pierre Tremblay

The former chief of staff to Mr. Gagliano, he entered the civil service in 1999 to replace Mr. Guité at the head of Ottawa's main communication program.

Polling

Polling firms are hired to survey Canadians on issues and on real or potential government programs and initiatives. Government departments indicate which questions should be asked, but the Communication Co-ordination and Services Branch organizes the polls and hires the pollsters.

Advertising campaigns

Advertising agencies compete for the right to conduct ad campaigns for each government department. The departments are the "clients" and have input into the type of ad firm they want, but CCSB handles the selection and contracing.

Agency of Record (AOR)

One media agency is chosen to handle the placement of government ads across the country, earning a commission when it buys radio and television airtime and advertising space in newspapers and magazines. The CCSB oversees the selection and management of dealings with the AOR.

HOW THE SYSTEM FAILED

Ottawa's sponsorship program has been marred with problem files that have raised the ire of the Opposition and auditors:

The federal government paid $1.6-million to Groupaction Marketing Inc. to produce three reports, oneof which cannot be found while the others are incomplete. The matter is now before the RCMP.

Government auditors said that Ottawa probably overpaid a company to send out cheques to the recipients of federal sponsorships. On average, Media IDA Vision made about $2,000 for every cheque that it sent to events receiving sponsorships.

The Just for Laughs comedy festival in Montreal received a sharp increase in funding, form $200,000 to $400,000, around the same time it was hiring Jean Carle, a friend and advisor to Mr. Chretien.

The executives of two advertising firms used federal contracts to hire companies owned by their son's to manufacture promotional items for the government, such as golf balls, T-shirts and cups with the Canada logo. The sons' companies made a profit selling the products to their dads' companies, which in turn charged a 17.65 per-cent commission on them before handing them over to the government.

Sponsorships

Advertising agencies are paid a 12-per-cent commission to manage the government's sponsorship of sports and cultural events such as festivals. They are expected to ensure visibility for the federal government, by ensuring symbols like flags and government logos are prominently displayed at the event. The CCSB chooses the ad agencies for each project, and issues the contracts.

Ottawa's sponsorship cash pot

1997.....$46.3-million

1998.....$58-million

1999.....$47.8-million

2000.....$40.4-million

2001.....$41.7-million

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