Federal Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion came under fire Wednesday after suggesting that the party might welcome back at least one person who was ousted over the sponsorship scandal.

Dion was responding to a question about whether the party should allow back Marc Yvan Coté, one of 10 Liberals expelled from the party while Paul Martin was prime minister for their role in the sponsorship scandal.

"We can't sideline people who make mistakes forever," Dion told the Quebec newspaper Le Soleil.

The scandal — in which ad executives admitted paying millions of dollars in kickbacks to the Liberals' Quebec wing in return for lucrative federal sponsorship contracts — devastated the party in Quebec and ultimately helped drive the Liberals out of power in the 2006 election.

Coté admitted he distributed $120,000 in cash to some Liberal campaigns in Quebec in the 1997 federal election, while Jean Chrétien was prime minister.

Following Justice John Gomery's report into the scandal, Martin said 10 people should be banned for life from the party.

Dion told Le Soleil that Cote's punishment was exaggerated, that he'd recognized his error and shouldn't be penalized for life.

Later in the day, Dion appeared to be more guarded, pointing out to reporters that none of the 10 expelled members has requested readmission to the party.

He added that should any of them do so, there is a process the party would follow in determining whether to welcome them back.

"I have no recommendation to make.… It's not my job to make recommendation[s] to the party through the media."

Tories denounce return of 'disgraced organizers'

Conservative cabinet ministers denounced Dion's comments.

"He doesn't understand that Canadians have rejected that kind of government, rejected that kind of corruption, and he seeks to embrace that and bring it back into the heart of the Liberal party," said Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Jim Prentice.

"He's made a decision to welcome back into the Liberal party disgraced organizers that were associated with the sponsorship scandal," Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said.

Some Liberal MPs have said the party should remain open and democratic, but others have said they are ill at ease at the idea of allowing the former Liberals back.

Lac-Saint-Louis MP Francis Scarpaleggia said he wondered why Liberals would take a step backward by welcoming back Coté or other figures linked to the sponsorship scandal.

With files from the Canadian Press