news Schreiber paid Mulroney $300K to be 'actor'

[rwilli1]

Schreiber paid Mulroney $300K to be 'actor'


Wed Apr 15, 6:40 PM





By Jim Brown, The Canadian Press


OTTAWA - Karlheinz Schreiber says he kept paying Brian Mulroney for nearly 18 months to lobby for an armoured vehicle project - even though Mulroney's party had lost power and the ex-prime minister never explained what he was doing to earn the money.


Schreiber, testifying for a second day Wednesday at a public inquiry, rejected a suggestion that the payments could have been for "past services" performed by Mulroney during his time in power.


He said he kept hoping that "sooner or later" Mulroney would be of use to him.


"He was more or less waiting for his moment to do something," Schreiber told the commission headed by Justice Jeffrey Oliphant.


"When you have a show, you have different actors and they show up at different times in different roles."


Schreiber has testified that he struck a deal with Mulroney, just before he stepped down as prime minister in June 1993, to lobby for a proposal by Thyssen AG to build German-designed light-armoured vehicles in Canada.


According to Schreiber, a first payment of $100,000 was delivered in August 1993, a second in December 1993 and a third in December 1994 for a total of $300,000.


Schreiber insisted the money, delivered in cash-stuffed envelopes in hotel rooms, was paid solely for lobbying services undertaken after Mulroney returned to private life.


He also claimed that Mulroney, at a meeting in Zurich in 1998, appeared nervous about their cash transactions and asked if there was any documentary "evidence" the payments had been made.


Between the first and second payments, Mulroney's Conservatives lost power to Jean Chretien's federal Liberals, and Schreiber hired former Trudeau-era cabinet minister Marc Lalonde to lobby the Grits.


But Mulroney had personal friends in Liberal ranks as well, and it couldn't hurt to have him onside, said Schreiber.


"Things can change," he said. "Assume Mr. Chretien would have a car accident and die. And the next prime minister (would be) Paul Martin, a very close friend of Mr. Mulroney.


"How would you know what's going to happen?"


Schreiber said he also hoped that, if Lalonde could sell the Chretien government on the project, Mulroney might then be helpful in lobbying the Quebec Liberal government of Robert Bourassa, with whom he had close ties.


The so-called Bear Head project, which originally aimed to build a manufacturing plant in Nova Scotia, had by then shifted its sights to Quebec.


Bourassa was gone and the provincial Liberals were booted from office by the fall of 1994, with the separatist Parti Quebecois taking power. But Schreiber continued to deliver cash to Mulroney.


Pressed repeatedly by inquiry counsel Richard Wolson on why he would do such a thing, Schreiber responded: "I was convinced I would need him sooner or later."

Schreiber said he never asked Mulroney for any receipts, account statements or invoices. Nor did he ask him to provide a detailed explanation of what he was doing in return for the cash.

The latter point has been contradicted both by Mulroney and by lobbyist Fred Doucet. They say the former prime minister provided a full explanation of his lobbying efforts when he received his final cash payment in December 2004 at the Hotel Pierre in New York City.

Relations between the men grew more distant after that, said Schreiber.

In 1999, Schreiber said, he came under pressure from Mulroney associates to explain what he would say on the subject if called to testify in court.

Schreiber, who by then was facing criminal charges in Germany and had civil litigation pending in Canada, said he asked Doucet to pass a blunt message to the former prime minister:

"Make sure you tell your friend that if I have to testify I will not commit perjury."

Mulroney has acknowledged, in testimony in 2007 before a Commons committee, that he accepted cash from Schreiber but put the total at $225,000. He expressed regret for his actions but said he'd done nothing illegal.

Mulroney also insisted his lobbying was directed at foreign leaders whose countries might have bought the Thyssen armoured vehicles - not at Canadian politicians, which could have put him in violation of federal ethics rules.

Wolson, for his part, continued for a second straight day to attack Schreiber's credibility, accusing him of lying under oath in past descriptions of his dealings with Mulroney.

The inquiry counsel said Schreiber left out key events in 2004 testimony involving a Eurocopter helicopter deal that was then the subject of criminal proceedings. In the end the case was dismissed for lack of sufficient evidence.

"You didn't give truthful answers," Wolson asserted.

"I see it different, but what can I do?" Schreiber replied.

The 75-year-old arms broker is facing extradition to Germany on fraud, extortion and tax charges but has been allowed to stay in Canada to participate in the inquiry.

That respite will likely last for some time yet. Although his main testimony is expected to end this week, Wolson noted that Schreiber could be recalled later.

Schreiber and his counsel also have legal standing for another round of hearings on broader issues of federal ethics policy.

Oliphant said Wednesday that Schreiber will technically remain under subpoena until the commission formally dismisses him.