Peter Mansbridge: Our next question comes in an e-mail from John Twigg in Campbell River, B.C. He says, “Why can Judge Gomery keep hearing new testimony if an election is called?
Christina Lawand is covering the Gomery Inquiry for us. Christina Lawand: There’s been a lot of rumours to that effect, but Judge Gomery has been quite clear on this, that election or no election, he will keep hearing witnesses. Now the inquiry is by law completely independent from Parliament. It has its own budget. It has its own timetable. So even if the government falls, this inquiry marches on. Peter Mansbridge: So there’s no way then the inquiry will stop if there’s an election campaign soon. Christina Lawand: Actually, there is one way, by law again, and that would be if the cabinet, in this case Paul Martin’s cabinet, passes what’s known as an order-in-council, but you could just imagine the optics of this. A Liberal government pulling the plug on an inquiry that’s investigating allegations of Liberal corruption – Canadians would be outraged, probably more scandalized than they already are. It’s why Paul Martin is not even considering this option for now.
