Gomery Inquiry : It all started with a balloon

There is a claim that Ottawa's decision to spend $325,000 to rent a hot-air balloon in the shape of a Mountie on a horse -- in the name of national unity -- started the interest in government misspending on the Unity campaign back in the year 2000.

And even after yesterday's "revelations" in the Gomery Inquiry, not all is over as ex-bureaucrat Chuck Guité and Groupaction Marketing president Jean Brault are set to face a criminal trial in May. More charges against others are expected as police continue their investigation into allegations of fraud. In addition, federal lawyers are trying to get back $40-million in misspent funds, and they are due in civil court in 2008.