Former Public Works minister Alfonso Gagliano is facing yet another ethical firestorm as questions of his ties to the Bonnano crime family were raised
in Parliament yesterday.
Gagliano has come under fire in recent months over his role in the controversial sponsorship program, which sent millions of dollars in commissions to
Liberal-friendly ad firms in Quebec.
Long known as the party's Quebec Lieutenant, Gagliano was the fixer who got things done. When allegations of fiscal malfeasance started to arise,
Jean Chretien got him out of Dodge by appointing him ambassador to Denmark. (The Dane's were mightily and rightly displeased)
When the Auditor Genereal's report was released and the extent of Gagliano's involvement in missing millions of $ became apparent, Prime Minister
Martin recalled him from his cushy gig.
The new allegations of mafia membership are explosive to say the least.
The Daily News report cited secret FBI documents the newspaper had obtained, claiming Gagliano was identified in the papers as a "made" member of
the Bonanno crime family.
Canadian media outlets sat on the story on advice of libel lawyers however once the opposition raised the issue in Parliament under the aegis of
parliamentary priviledge the media was free to report on the allegations originally printed by the New York Daily News.
If the allegations are true, this would be the biggest scandal to hit the Liberals and would very likely result in the fall of their minority
government.
montreal.cbc.ca... 
