Auditor General Sheila Fraser (CP photo)

On Feb. 10, 2004, federal Auditor General Sheila Fraser released the hotly-anticipated results of her audit of the controversial government advertising and sponsorship program run by the federal Public Works Department.

DETAILS: Report and key findings

She found that $100 million was paid to a variety of communications agencies in the form of fees and commissions and said the program was basically designed to generate commissions for these companies rather than to produce any benefit for Canadians.

The program has been in the spotlight since 2002, when Fraser recommended the RCMP investigate how $1.6 million in federal government advertising contracts were handed out to a Montreal ad agency. Officials in Canada's Public Works Department "broke just about every rule in the book" when it came to awarding contracts to Groupaction Inc., Fraser said.

Opposition critics allege the program was used to award lucrative advertising contracts to Liberal party supporters.

These are the key events leading up to Fraser's report. (Timeline)