Pat Martin claims the Liberal sponsorship scandal has roots in the 1999 Pan Am Games in Winnipeg. The NDP MP for Winnipeg Centre plans to reveal documents implicating the Games in the spending scandal at a press conference this morning. He wouldn't divulge details about his alleged evidence yesterday, but did say it surrounds a Halifax-based advertising firm and a missing $1 million in Games' funds. "I've been saying for weeks that the Liberals were a bunch of thieving bastards," Martin said yesterday, adding an unnamed senior Manitoba Liberal advisor is linked to the scandal. The advertising firm, Compass Communications, was contracted by the Liberal government to handle media relations during the Games. Its head, Tony Blom, is a senior Grit strategist in Nova Scotia. A 2000 Public Works internal audit showed Compass Communications billed $1.6 million in fees and commissions on a $634,000 sponsorship for the Games. But Blom told The Sun the audit failed to show a $1.6-million contract his company received to develop Canada Place, a Games pavilion that hosted various musical performers and a pin-trading centre at The Forks. "Not everything is as it appears," Blom said yesterday of the missing money. "I'm not sure what evidence Mr. Martin has, but I know what we did. We completed the projects, they were well-publicized, very well-received, and given great reviews." Controversy surrounding Compass Communications isn't new. The company came under fire two years ago for eight of its federal sponsorship files. It was later cleared of any serious wrongdoing -- a point Blom said proves the company's innocence. "The contracts we worked on for the Pan Am Games were huge, international contracts and we were in Winnipeg working on it for months," said Blom. "I certainly don't believe anything improper was done." MONEY USED FOR RENT Senior Manitoba Liberal and Treasury Board Minister Reg Alcock said all the money given to Compass was used for rent and Canada Place. Alcock agrees with Blom's numbers and said Martin is looking for controversy where there is none. "The whole thing was recorded, audited and properly done," Alcock said last night. "The Pan Am Games was a great event." Messages left with Sandy Riley, the former head of the Pan Am Games Society, were not returned. | 
