Paul Martin took further steps this week to stabilize his government rocked by the sponsorship scandal. The Prime Minister set his sights on the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), VIA Rail, and Canada Post. These Crown corporations were named in the Auditor-General's report exposing $100-million in questionable expenditures for little or no work.

If the heads of the Crown corporations named by the A.G. possessed an ounce of honour, each would take responsibility for the companies under their management and resign gracefully. But such lofty standards are out of sync in Ottawa, so the PM suspended - without pay - VIA Rail President Marc Lefrançois and BDC President Michel Vennat. He has given them one week to explain why they should not be fired. Canada Post President André Ouellet was suspended with pay until the government has completed a review of his performance. VIA Rail chairman Jean Pelletier escaped unscathed.

It remains to be seen whether Mr. Martin will get to the bottom of the scandal. And if reports are true that the sponsorship money was a slush fund, the Liberals will not likely recover. But after a decade of half measures and excuses from Jean Chrétien, Mr. Martin's quick action is a welcome change.
But taxpayers will not be satisfied with a few political cronies getting the chop. Firing political appointees running departments named by the A.G. for wrongdoing is an important first step in beginning the process of restoring public confidence in this government.

There are other necessary steps Mr. Martin must take before calling an election:

Currently, Crown corporations are exempt from Freedom of Information laws, which give citizens the ability to ask questions - and receive answers - about how money is spent. The Ontario Liberal government opened Hydro One and Ontario Power Generation to FOI requests. Mr. Martin must do the same to federal agencies.

The A.G. discovered tax money was funnelled to Liberal-friendly advertising agencies. Many of these firms were large contributors to the Liberal party. Mr. Martin must instruct his party to place in escrow any donation from a company fingered by the A.G. until the investigation into where the tax money went is complete.

Ottawa must also re-institute proper accounting and oversight measures. Last December, the Association of Public Service Financial Administrators handed a report to the Treasury Board and Mr. Martin's transition team. It called on Mr. Martin to "re-establish order" in the management of taxpayers' money, and blamed past scandals on a lack of financial controls. It is time Ottawa put its checks-and-balances back in place.

Parliamentary reform must be enacted. Lawmakers must be permitted to vet political appointments in a way that ensures bipartisan support for candidates. And MPs must return to their traditional role as independent reviewers of government spending.

To ensure more transparency, Mr. Martin must pass meaningful whistle-blower legislation to protect public servants that report government wrongdoings from administrative retribution. In addition, the PM cannot delay appointing an independent ethics czar who reports to Parliament, rather than to the Prime Minister's Office.

A final bold step is to penalize MPs who discredit the institution of Parliament by withholding all, or part, of the pension plan that is generously provided by taxpayers.

Mr. Martin has much work to do before he can take credit for cleaning up Ottawa. He has shown he can talk the talk, but can he walk the walk