Canada PM Stakes Career In Scandal

Paul Martin put his political life on the line Sunday by boldly promising to resign if a public inquiry shows he had prior knowledge of a sponsorship scandal that saw $100 million in public funds go to Liberal-friendly advertising and public relations firms.

"Anybody who is found to have known that people are kiting checks, that people are falsifying invoices — me or anybody else — should resign," Martin said on CBC's Cross Country Checkup.

"I've made that very, very clear. I don't think we have to debate that. … Anybody who knew that kind of thing was going on and let it happen, they don't belong in public life."

The prime minister made the statement as a succession of open-line radio callers vented their outrage over the scandal that has plunged the Liberal party and government into disarray.

Martin has said repeatedly he was kept out of the loop under former prime minister Jean Chretien while a small group of bureaucrats and political figures mishandled the sponsorship program.

Auditor General Sheila Fraser reported that up to $100 million of the total $250 million in sponsorship funding went to private consultants who did little to advance the objectives of raising the federal profile in Quebec and promoting Canadian unity.