Paul Martin wants Question Period to be used by parliamentarians to debate policy and important issues of the day. The daily grind over the relationship between the federal government and Canada Steamship Lines (CSL) - the shipping empire he owned before transferring it to his sons last year - is not how the new prime minister wanted to introduce his government to Canadians.

In an attempt to deflect the issue, Mr. Martin asked Auditor General Sheila Fraser to review $161-million in government contracts awarded to CSL over the past 11 years. The original estimate, provided by Ottawa last year, put the figure at $137,000. Ms. Fraser's job is to explain this lowball accounting error.

But criticism over the discrepancy will continue when Mr. Martin returns to the Commons. (Indeed, he could not escape it on a CBC town hall meeting, where he was asked to explain the affair.) This is about more than sloppy bookkeeping.

In the face of Opposition criticism, the government has adopted a two-pronged defence. That there was no cover-up, and that the rules were followed in awarding the contracts. The auditor will likely shed light on the first point. Although her answer - that nobody, not even in the highest level of government, has a clear understanding of where tax dollars are being spent - will be cold comfort to taxpayers.

But were the contracts properly awarded It is important to note that not all the public funds paid out to CSL were for goods and services. The $161-million figure includes $10.3-million in grants - better known as subsidies - and a $4.9-million quasi-repayable loan - another subsidy - from Technology Partnerships Canada (TPC).

TPC is Industry Canada's corporate welfare programme and no stranger to controversy. Two years ago, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) released a report showing the programme routinely violated its own accountability framework. The CTF's findings were based on information from publicly available sources and Access to Information requests. Responding to scrutiny, Industry Minister Lucienne Robillard recently announced a review of TPC to evaluate its effectiveness.

TPC money paid to Canadian Shipbuilding & Engineering Ltd. - a CSL subsidiary - was brokered while Mr. Martin was a government member. And this clearly violates government rules that 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)

Payments of tax dollars to CSL - through TPC, while Mr. Martin was a MP - refutes the defence the file was properly handled. If it was wrong for Prime Minster Chrétien to profit from government assistance to the Auberge Grand-Mère land deal, how can it be proper for Mr. Martin to gain from subsidies to CSL

The change in Liberal leadership was meant, in part, to turn the page on the low ethical standard set by Mr. Chrétien. Yet Mr. Martin cannot credibly claim his government represents a fresh start if he has similarly fudged the rules - particularly when he has made higher ethical standards a cornerstone of his administration. It is not too late to clear up this matter. Mr. Martin correctly shut down the much maligned sponsorship programme. He would do well to follow suit with TPC and other wasteful welfare schemes.

The Prime Minister must press CSL to pay back $10.3-million in government subsidies the company received, and ensure the $4.9-million loan is repaid to Ottawa along with any other grants and contributions the auditor might discover. The $15.2-million represents the federal income tax paid by about 2,800 Canadian taxpayers.

In addition, he must release the entire TPC file on Canadian Shipbuilding & Engineering Ltd., including e-mail and other correspondence between TPC officials and members of parliament and their staff. Mr. Martin should remember that transparency is his friend.