– Mr. Justice John Gomery, releasing the second report of his inquiry

"Accountability is what ordinary Canadians, working Canadians, people who pay their bills, pay their taxes, expect from their political leaders …Justice Gomery did an admirable job, but I don't think we're going to drop the matter when forty to fifty million are still missing."

– Prime minister-designate Stephen Harper

"I think the recommendations have merit. We will study them and respond to them."

– Prime minister-designate Stephen Harper

"To confirm public confidence, it was important that the failures and wrongdoing that occurred within the sponsorship program were identified in a public manner. Perhaps even more importantly, needed reforms to the process of government itself were required and I am proud of the initiatives our government led in that respect."

– Prime Minister Paul Martin in a prepared statement

"I fail to see how any change of law, or how any additional norms or rules and regulations could make sure that political actors that deliberately choose not to follow the law, will from now on."

Christian Rouillard, expert in governance and public management at the University of Ottawa

"I am rather pleased with it: it seems to me that he has addressed accountability very well."

– Allan Cutler, the former Public Works employee who first blew the whistle on the sponsorship program

"First of all (Gomery) has reaffirmed in this report that the overwhelming majority of public servants and politicians conduct their work with honesty and integrity. Secondly, he's recognized that in fact, the measures taken by the government, under the leadership of Reg Alcock have in fact strengthened governance to reduce significantly the possibility of this kind of thing happening again. And thirdly, he has set forth recommendations that we are reviewing, but would support, because we have said all along, the prime minister who appointed Justice Gomery, Paul Martin, has said all along that we support the work of Justice Gomery. We support these recommendations, and we will be holding accountable the new Harper government on these recommendations to ensure that they don't deviate from the important work that Justice Gomery has completed."

– Liberal MP Scott Brison speaking from Parliament Hill in Ottawa

"At the end of the day, it's about bringing in a culture of integrity and accountability, and transparency, as Justice Gomery has stated, and we're very pleased and we'll be looking at these things very, very closely…We all want to move forward, but we must never forget where this originated and we have to ensure this never happens again…It's a very sad day that we even had to have this report. It was very necessary to get to the bottom of this, very necessary to find out all the facts, but it was the Liberal government (that is) why we're having this report today."

– B.C. Conservative MP Gary Lunn speaking from Victoria

"Other countries have done it, (but) it's going be a big change in Canadian political culture if you really are going to produce a separation of policy and politics on the one hand and administration on the other …Canadian political culture has involved a running together of those two, and it's not going to be easy to unscramble that omelette."

– Arthur Kroeger, former deputy minister

"Old habits die hard. The devil will be in the details of any proposed legislation…but Canadians have passed the tipping point in terms of our expectations for meaningful change. Mr. Harper has made a strong commitment. We will be encouraging him to stay on course."

– Anne Kothawala, president of the Canadian Newspaper Association in a prepared statement

"It's very hard to separate individuals and systems…You can always point at someone who didn't do what they should have. But the question then is what in the system allowed them to do that (and) what can be done to prevent it happening again."

– Ned Franks, professor emeritus at Queen's University and Gomery adviser

"This is an important report for all workers in the federal public sector…The PSAC intends to push the new government to implement the Gomery whistleblowing suggestions and take other steps to ensure that all whistleblowers are fully protected."

– Nycole Turmel, national president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), a union representing federal public sector workers

"The notions of professionalism, independence and accountability that the Gomery Commission wishes to include in the procurement process of advertising contracts in Canada will guarantee judicious choices and meaningful results."

– Yves St-Amand, president of the Association of Quebec Advertising Agencies

"It's going to be delicious… I'm looking forward to re-assuming my role as an obscure judge of the Superior Court."

– Mr Justice John Gomery, on the prospect of leaving the public eye