Even our great nation can succumb to the dark happenings of corruption and scandal in its politics. Described below are two major Canadian scandals that can be argued occurred due to vulnerability and high states of stress in times of national crisis.
The Pacific Railway Scandal As Morton mentioned in his article Reflecting on Gomery, “[r]ailways have been a source of political temptation since the first tracks were laid”; which is evident in the Pacific Scandal involving Sir John A. Macdonald, his Conservative government and Sir Hugh Allan (2005). Macdonald was firm on the fact that the United States would not control the entirety of the West coast after their purchase of Alaska in 1867 and building the Canadian Pacific Railway was his solution …show more content…
Sir Hugh Allan, the richest man in Canada, desperately wanted the CPR contract. Macdonald utilized this fact by asking Allan for approximately $360,000 in illicit funds for his Conservative campaign and in turn gave him the CPR contract (Library and Archives Canada, 2005). The Conservatives were re-elected in 1872, but afterwards the Liberals found out about Macdonald’s deal with Allan and he was forced from office – this led to the election of Canada’s first Liberal government under Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie, although Macdonald later came back in 1878 (Unit 1-3, 2018; Morton, 2005). This scandal comprised of not only patronage and conflict-of-interest, but bribery, deceit, vote-buying, and illicit campaigning that came to be from the building of the CPR (Unit 1-3, …show more content…
The published stories led Auditor General Shelia Fraser to investigate the Sponsorship Program – a program that had been created predominantly to promote visibility of the federal government in Quebec (Unit 1-3, 2018). This seemed a crucial thing to do after Quebec’s near separation, but what was found was that $100 million dollars of taxpayers’ money ultimately ‘went down the drain’. The federal Liberal government gave contracts and public money to Liberal advertising agencies for little to no work – this included work that was not completed, reports that were never written, and money given to Liberal supporters who completed party work (Gomery, 2004-06). This scandal ultimately led to the election of Stephen Harper and his Conservatives and the defeat of Paul Martin’s Liberal government, as well as the laying of criminal charges against certain individuals involved (Unit 1-3,
The Pacific Railway Scandal As Morton mentioned in his article Reflecting on Gomery, “[r]ailways have been a source of political temptation since the first tracks were laid”; which is evident in the Pacific Scandal involving Sir John A. Macdonald, his Conservative government and Sir Hugh Allan (2005). Macdonald was firm on the fact that the United States would not control the entirety of the West coast after their purchase of Alaska in 1867 and building the Canadian Pacific Railway was his solution …show more content…
Sir Hugh Allan, the richest man in Canada, desperately wanted the CPR contract. Macdonald utilized this fact by asking Allan for approximately $360,000 in illicit funds for his Conservative campaign and in turn gave him the CPR contract (Library and Archives Canada, 2005). The Conservatives were re-elected in 1872, but afterwards the Liberals found out about Macdonald’s deal with Allan and he was forced from office – this led to the election of Canada’s first Liberal government under Prime Minister Alexander Mackenzie, although Macdonald later came back in 1878 (Unit 1-3, 2018; Morton, 2005). This scandal comprised of not only patronage and conflict-of-interest, but bribery, deceit, vote-buying, and illicit campaigning that came to be from the building of the CPR (Unit 1-3, …show more content…
The published stories led Auditor General Shelia Fraser to investigate the Sponsorship Program – a program that had been created predominantly to promote visibility of the federal government in Quebec (Unit 1-3, 2018). This seemed a crucial thing to do after Quebec’s near separation, but what was found was that $100 million dollars of taxpayers’ money ultimately ‘went down the drain’. The federal Liberal government gave contracts and public money to Liberal advertising agencies for little to no work – this included work that was not completed, reports that were never written, and money given to Liberal supporters who completed party work (Gomery, 2004-06). This scandal ultimately led to the election of Stephen Harper and his Conservatives and the defeat of Paul Martin’s Liberal government, as well as the laying of criminal charges against certain individuals involved (Unit 1-3,