Aside from ex-bureaucrat Chuck Guité and admen Paul Coffin and Jean Brault, the RCMP were investigating other players in the sponsorship scandal, including people responsible for the program and members of the Liberal Party of Canada, according to court testimony that couldn't be reported until now.
Details about the police investigations were under a publication ban until the jury began its deliberations yesterday in the fraud trial of Mr. Guité, the former head of the federal sponsorship program.
At a pretrial conference last fall, defence lawyers quizzed an RCMP officer about whether former public works minister Alfonso Gagliano and former prime ministerial chief of staff Jean Pelletier were among those under police scrutiny.
Staff Sergeant Dominique Landry refused to give names. However, she said "people responsible for the program" were being investigated.
Asked whether the police were investigating the relations between Mr. Brault and Mr. Guité and the Liberal Party, the officer replied, "To a certain extent, yes."
Staff Sgt. Landry and another investigator told the hearing that the police executed search warrants at three Quebec agencies that received millions of sponsorship dollars: Lafleur Communication Marketing, Le Groupe Polygone Éditeurs Inc. and Gosselin Communications Stratégiques Inc.
The court also heard that the investigation of the Lafleur and Gosselin agencies was transferred to the Sûreté du Québec, the Quebec provincial police, because those firms had handled sponsorships for the RCMP's 125th anniversary in 1998-99.
The police seized 50 boxes of documents from Lafleur and 70 boxes from Gosselin, said SQ Sergeant Roland Fréchette, who headed a six-person team of investigators.
Other developments that couldn't be reported until now include Mr. Guité's unsuccessful bid to quiz potential jurors about their political views because he was concerned about having separatists on the panel.
Also unknown to the jury were the presiding judge's concerns that the case was too complex for them.
"This is what I would call a relatively complex civil case," Mr. Justice Fraser Martin said while the jurors were out after receiving a written question from the jury, suggesting they were clued out about some aspects of the case.
"The sooner people realize, in this country, that there are certain cases that are simply not designed for juries, all the better. I gather that day isn't about to come," the judge said.
The case was heard by a jury because Mr. Guité and Mr. Brault were charged under a preferred indictment, sending them to trial without a preliminary hearing.
At one point, defence lawyers offered to switch to a trial before judge only -- but the court was told that the office of the Quebec Attorney-General felt that it was important for a sponsorship case to be judged by 12 citizens.
Mr. Guité feared that jurors with separatist leanings wouldn't treat him fairly. "My role was to promote the government of Canada. If there is a hard-core separatist, and here I am, the guy who plastered the province with Canadian flags, I don't know if there'd be impartiality," he said at a pretrial conference.
His concerns, which the Crown supported, were rejected by Judge Martin. "This isn't Canada that's on trial here. You're on trial for fraud," the judge told Mr. Guité.
Mr. Guité said he didn't wear his Maple Leaf lapel pin to court because of his worries about jurors' bias. "I still have a concern that if I had a member of the jury sitting there . . . a staunch separatist would not be in my favour, would not be a member that would be as impartial."
Mr. Guité was charged with five counts of fraud in relation to five contracts he gave to Mr. Brault's agency. Details about the unusually cozy relations between Mr. Guité and Mr. Brault that were released at the Gomery inquiry were never entered as evidence in the trial.
After his retirement, Mr. Guité received more than $130,000 in consulting fees from Mr. Brault. Other largesse from Mr. Brault included a $25,000 loan, free tires and $12,000 in tickets to the Italian Grand Prix at Monza in 1998.
Mr. Guité, who commuted from Ottawa each day of the trial, represented himself after dismissing his lawyer. It is believed, however, that he benefited from informal legal advice from someone who wasn't in court.
Tu Thanh Ha