Prime Minister Paul Martin and his key advisors will spend Halloween poring over an advance copy of the Gomery report trying to decide if the document will resurrect the ghosts of the sponsorship scandal.
Justice John Gomery sent a copy of his first report to the prime minister on Monday evening, giving him 16-hours lead time before releasing it to the Canadian public.
It is suspected that Gomery will blame a select group of politicians, aides and bureaucrats for the advertising scandal, which erupted last winter with the release of the report by Auditor General Sheila Fraser.
The Liberal government of then Prime Minister Jean Chrétien spent $250 million to promote national unity in Quebec. In her February 2004 report, Fraser said an estimated $100 million in commissions in relation to the program went to Liberal-friendly ad agencies for little or no work.
In political terms the question now is whether it will be the Liberals or the opposition that can turn Gomery's findings to their political advantage.
