The new program designed to replace the infamously corrupt federal sponsorship fund appears set to become a bona fide Conservative boondoggle, the opposition alleged Wednesday.
An internal memo suggests the government intends to favour ridings held by Tory MPs when they hand out cash from a new $30-million program for festivals, the NDP said.
New Democrat MP Charlie Angus said the Tories -- who bill themselves as a new government of accountability -- have a few questions to answer.
"Are we watching the birth here of a brand, spanking-new, little baby boondoggle?'' Angus said.
"Is this money that belongs to Canadians or is it the personal purse of the minister herself?''
But Heritage Minister Bev Oda said other opposition MPs will soon receive the same document that Tory members got last week, and she promised the funding process will be fair.
The note to Conservative caucus members was found lying around on Parliament Hill last week, Angus said.
The document includes a note and a questionnaire, which asks Tory MPs to provide the names of events in their ridings that should receive funding.
Angus says it's troubling that Tory MPs are already being asked to recommend festivals when the program doesn't yet have an official name, website or publicly available details about how it works.
Oda promised the House of Commons that the program will be transparent and open to all MPs.
She noted that a New Democrat MP has already requested funding for an event in his Ontario riding -- a claim the NDP later challenged.
"The (program) still has to be created. The criteria have not been established,'' Oda said.
"All MPs are invited to provide input. The Conservative caucus received a questionnaire, and all members of the opposition parties will receive it in the coming days.''
The NDP called Oda's statement misleading.
They said Ontario MP Brian Masse made a routine request in January -- two months before the new program was even announced -- for funding for summer festivals in Windsor.
Masse received a rejection letter from Canadian Heritage this week. The letter said no program existed to satisfy such a request, and urged Windsor organizers to consult the Charity Village web site.
The rejection letter to Masse was dated April 23, five days later than the one where Oda encouraged Conservative MPs to make their proposals.
Program to fill a void
Announced in the recent federal budget, the new program was designed to fill a void created when the Liberals' scandal-plagued sponsorship program was cancelled more than three years ago.
A number of outdoor festivals said they struggled to make ends meet after the sponsorship program was cancelled amid reports of corruption and theft by Liberal-friendly middlemen.
The Tories' new program is supposed to help resolve that funding shortfall. But Angus said it's off to a bad start.
"What disturbs me about this memorandum is that it seems to be giving a major leg up to Conservative ridings,'' he said.
Angus says he wants to know who drafted and distributed the letter.
He also wants to know why the memo asks Tories to respond to Oda's personal MP's office e-mail account instead of her government office in the Department of Canadian Heritage.
One cultural group called the allegations of malfeasance surprising.
The head of the Canadian Association of Fairs and Exhibitions said he has met with the heritage minister and is currently working to provide her with a written definition of what should be considered a festival.
"From what I've heard, the government's intentions are very honourable -- so I'm kind of surprised,'' said association president David Bednar.
"If anything I think they were trying to be careful to get this as far away from the history of the sponsorship program as possible ...
"I would be very surprised to see this is anything other than transparent.''
