NDPer Pat Martin is calling for a criminal investigation into what he says is the disappearance of more than $1 million that was earmarked by Ottawa to promote Canada at the 1999 Pan Am Games in Winnipeg. "The case is building," said Martin, the MP from Winnipeg Centre. "The evidence is piling up to indicate a wide-spread, nation-wide ... conspiracy." At a morning news conference, Martin produced documents that showed the Liberal government, through the federal sponsorship program, allocated $2.3 million to "provide enhanced visibility for the government of Canada" at the 1999 Games. The money was paid to Halifax-based ad firm Compass Communications, which Martin said is owned by "Liberal strategist" Tony Blom. Martin produced a series of invoices that showed only $634,000 of the $2.3 million was paid by Compass Communications to Pan Am Games organizers. He questioned where the rest of the $1.7 million went. Martin said even if Compass charged a standard 15% commission, there is still nearly $1.4 million unaccounted for. "We have good reason to believe we were ripped off, we were fleeced," he said. Blom confirmed Martin's numbers were correct, but he denied the money was misspent. Blom said the approximate $1.7 million was used to develop the 10,000 square-foot Canada Place, a Games pavilion that hosted various musical performers and displays at The Forks. Blom said Martin's comments are inflammatory. EVENT AUDITED "I'm disappointed," Blom told The Sun. "That's a very serious type of allegation ... We hope there's no more. That's what I can tell you." Like Blom, Treasury Board President Reg Alcock said Martin is wrong. "It's not missing money. It was all accounted for, it's all there," he said, noting the event has been audited. The sponsorship scandal has been brewing for several weeks. It began when Auditor General Sheila Fraser reported $100 million in taxpayer money was missing or unaccounted for from a $250-million federal advertising program designed to raise the profile of the federal government in Quebec. NDP finance critic Judy Wasylycia-Leis said she will be demanding evidence as to where all the money was spent. "We need a full accounting to see where the discrepancy really is," she said. Martin said his staff were expected to forward the documents to RCMP late yesterday. | 
