Ottawa - The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) called upon Prime Minister Paul Martin to press Canada Steamship Lines to immediately payback $10.3-million in government subsidies the company received, ensure a $4.9-million loan is repaid to the federal government, and come clean on any other grants and contributions received by his family's shipping empire.

"It is wholly unacceptable that tax dollars are funneled to businesses and that a government loan to CSL was brokered while Mr. Martin was a member of Cabinet," said CTF federal director John Williamson. "The payments of tax dollars to CSL represent a serious conflict of interest. It was wrong for former Prime Minster Jean Chrétien to profit personally from government assistance to the Auberge Grand-Mère land deal, and it is similarly improper for Mr. Martin to profit from government subsidies to CSL."

Questions of malfeasance will continue to dog the Martin government. Consider the following:

• The TPC $4.9-million loan/subsidy awarded to Canadian Shipbuilding & Engineering Ltd. - a CSL subsidiary - from Industry Canada's Technology Partnerships Canada. Government rules stipulate: "No members of the House of Commons or the Senate, either directly nor indirectly, shall be admitted to any share or part of this Agreement or to any benefit to arise therefrom." (TPC contract, section 17.2)
  
  
• The TPC news release dated June 19, 2003, announcing the TPC subsidy deal failed to note the relationship between CSL and Canadian Shipbuilding & Engineering Ltd. TPC press announcements or accompanying backgrounders routinely include such corporate relationships.
  
  
• The $4.9-million awarded to Canadian Shipbuilding & Engineering Ltd. accounts for a full one third of the government's TPC $15-million shipbuilding subsidy initiative.

"Mr. Martin must come clean by releasing the entire TPC file on Canadian Shipbuilding & Engineering Ltd., including all e-mail and other correspondence between TPC officials and members of parliament and their staff," said Williamson. "And the next issue for Parliament to address is whether it is ethical for the Martin family to do business with the federal government while Mr. Martin is Prime Minister."

"The Prime Minister cannot credibly claim his government represents a fresh start from Mr. Chrétien's government if he is going to behave no differently than his predecessor, particularly when he has made higher ethical standards a cornerstone of his administration," concluded Williamson.