"I was just following orders," isn't a good enough excuse for bypassing the rules and doling out money to ad firms friendly to the government, a jury ruled last week.
Chuck Guite was found guilty last week of defrauding the Canadian government in the federal government sponsorship scandal. During the trial, Guite tried to portray himself as someone whose actions were directed by his political masters.
But it doesn't really matter who was involved in decisions. Guite's name was on the contracts that gave out hundreds of thousands of dollars for laughably little (if any) work in return.
The moral of this long, drawn-out story?
Bureaucrats may be protected from being singled out when a government policy goes awry, but when you break the law, you're on your own.
The same goes for agencies. Many of the ad/PR agency folks who got dragged into the chanelling of money from the federally-paid sponsorship campaigns back to Liberal Party contacts in Quebec claimed they felt pressured to take part in underhanded transactions. Well, they get to go to jail, too, even if they were just following orders.
Previous posts: Agency billings probed, Media ban, Bloggers flex muscles
Tags: quebec, politics, fraud, advertising, agency, sponsorship, scandal, government
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