The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Facing mounting criticism over the Liberal sponsorship scandal, Prime Minister Paul Martin is scheduled to escape his hot seat in Ottawa tomorrow with trips to The Pas and Thompson. Mr. Martin's itinerary calls for him to attend the Northern Manitoba Trappers Festival in The Pas before flying to Thompson to drop the puck at a Keewatin Tribal Council hockey tournament. While in Thompson, Mr. Martin will also participate in a roundtable discussion on community issues at the C.A. Nesbitt Arena Complex. Mr. Martin took part in a similar discussion at the Flin Flon Community Hall in 2001, when he was Jean Chretien's finance minister. In The Pas, the Prime Minister is slated to greet contestants at the finish line of a sled dog race and attend one of the many events taking place during the Trappers Festival. Mr. Martin is to then attend a reception at Kikiwak Inn with representatives from Opaskwayak Cree Nation, The Pas' neighbouring community. Prior to landing in Northern Manitoba, Mr. Martin will be in Saskatoon, where he is scheduled to appear on a one-hour radio call-in program on radio station CKOM. The Saskatoon portion of his trip is to also include a tour of the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies and a session with the media. Ottawa released the Prime Minister's itinerary information yesterday. All details are subject to change. Mr. Martin has come under fire for the Liberal sponsorship scandal in which $100 million in tax dollars was funneled to friends of the Liberal party. The Prime Minister, who was sworn into office in December, has pledged to resign if he is found to have played a role in the incident. A particularly vocal attack on Mr. Martin came yesterday from Conservative Party leadership contender Stephen Harper. "He wants us to believe he didn't know his government had turned the government of Canada into a massive machine for sucking up our tax dollars and depositing them into Liberal bank accounts," the former Alliance leader said in a speech in Toronto.
