Montreal ad man Jean Lafleur has been hit with a 45-month sentence for his role in the infamous sponsorship scandal.

CTV's Jed Kahane told Newsnet from Montreal that Lafleur's sentence is the toughest handed down so far.

Chuck Guite, a key federal bureaucrat, received a 42-month sentence. He is appealing that sentence.

In addition, Lafleur has been slapped with an order to repay the $1.5 million he pilfered from the now-defunct program.

Lawyer Jean-Claude Hebert had said his client is too saddled with debt to repay that sum and asked instead for a 30-month sentence.

Jean Brault, another Montreal ad man involved in the scandal, received a 30-month sentence.

Lafleur returned to Canada from the Caribbean country of Belize in April and pleaded guilty to 28 charges of fraud. He has been in custody since then, which will count towards the time he is serving.

Lafleur's advertising firm helped the federal government place tens of millions of dollars worth of ads in Quebec in the period after the hotly-contested 1995 sovereignty referendum, one the federalists won by about 50,000 votes.

As a result, Lafleur and other members of his family paid themselves a total of $12 million.

However, he did work of little or no real value. During his testimony at the Gomery Inquiry into the sponsorship scandal, Lafleur seemed to have a very spotty memory.

Kahane said the sentencing judge told Lafleur that he didn't do himself any favours with his Gomery testimony.

New Democrat MP Bill Siksay said the sponsorship scandal continues to have negative political repercussions for the Liberal party, particularly in Quebec.

"I think it will be fascinating what will happen in Quebec with the byelections, once they're called in Outremont and other places," Siksay told Mike Duffy Live on Wednesday.

"The Liberals aren't doing so well among francophone Quebecers, and the NDP is actually leading them in some polls. I think this has a real legacy of distrust for the Liberal party, of absolute shock. People are appalled at what they did in the name of federalism."

But Liberal MP Mark Holland said his party proved its desire for accountability when former-prime minister Paul Martin called for an inquiry.

"It was in fact the Liberal party that called for the Gomery Inquiry, that called for the auditor general, that ensured we were able to go after the individuals who were responsible," he said.