Evidence of meeting #10 for Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics in the 39th Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was mulroney.
A recording is available from Parliament.
11:50 a.m.
P.C., As an Individual
If he explained that this was for a contract that had nothing illegal about it and that the member had provided visible and tangible services to his client, I would have been in agreement, but I would have told him, as I am telling myself now, that he had committed an error and that he should have done things differently.
11:50 a.m.
Bloc
Serge Ménard Bloc Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC
Exactly. But that would have been your reaction as party leader.
11:50 a.m.
Bloc
11:50 a.m.
P.C., As an Individual
But I am explaining to you that it was a mistake.
Look, Mr. Ménard, if I may...
11:50 a.m.
Bloc
Serge Ménard Bloc Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC
I have one last question, because I have very little time.
Did you keep a record of the expenses you incurred for Mr. Schreiber?
11:50 a.m.
P.C., As an Individual
I answered that question. Yes, up to the point when I resolved the tax issue and absorbed all of my expenses. At that point, everything was settled, including the expenses. I provided the file, I think...
11:50 a.m.
Bloc
Serge Ménard Bloc Marc-Aurèle-Fortin, QC
This is not a court and we have little time.
Someone asked if you were experiencing financial difficulties when Mr. Schreiber offered you the cash.
11:50 a.m.
Conservative
Dean Del Mastro Conservative Peterborough, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Mr. Mulroney, you've stated a number of times today that you believe Mr. Schreiber would say or do anything to avoid extradition. His lawyer, Mr. Greenspan, is on the record saying as much. Mr. Schreiber made it clear to the committee that he would sign his own name to any statement that might assist him in avoiding extradition. The reason I think these things have stuck to you, sir, is because he's the only person who has been talking.
You have never sought to defend yourself. You have spoken through spokespersons, but you, yourself, have not. I think Canadians have wanted to hear from you. Why haven't you done that?
11:55 a.m.
P.C., As an Individual
I didn't do it, sir, because it was a private matter that was undertaken in the private sector. Obviously, in retrospect, not only did I make an unwise decision, but I made an unwise decision in regard to the defence of this.
Let me give you an illustration of the enormity of what he has said and done. A number of people I saw on television....
I think my friend Mr. Thériault....
I apologize, Mr. Thibault. Thériault and Thibault sound a lot alike.
Mr. Thibault spoke the last time about the “Britan” account and how Mr. Schreiber said the deal was done at Harrington Lake and that he scurried off to Europe and created this “Britan” account. He wasn't sure if there was $500,000, or $300,000, or whatever, but the “Britan” account, he said, was created for me. I think that Mr. Thibault interrogated him very closely on this. That's an important point. He interrogated him very closely and very thoroughly.
Mr. Schreiber sat here and swore under oath that yes, indeed, Mr. Thibault, that's what I did; the Britan account was for Brian Mulroney. He neglected to tell you that eight years earlier, on October 20, 1999, he instructed his lawyer, Mr. Greenspan, to write to the CBC and say this:
Before I wrote this letter this morning, I read Phillip Mathias's article in the National Post, wherein he states that the show The Fifth Estate is expected to report that the word “Britan” appears in banking documents belonging to Mr. Schreiber. He stated that The Fifth Estate will suggest that “Britan” is close to the word “Brian” in order to imply a connection between Mr. Mulroney and Mr. Schreiber. If Mr. Mathias is correct in what he expects you to report and run on your show tonight, without the benefit of my on-air answer to the questions and answers, you will have committed grave wrongs against Mr. Mulroney and Mr. Schreiber. That would be a false, inaccurate, malicious, groundless inference. There is no resemblance to the truth in that reckless suggestion. Your conduct will attempt to ruin the reputation of people by innuendo and falsehoods, when I can give you an accurate, truthful, meaningful, and balanced response to your irresponsible innuendo.
So much for the “Britan” account.
It was signed by Edward Greenspan, Q.C., an excellent lawyer in Toronto, who represents Mr. Schreiber's interests.
Now, sir, if you have ever seen a repudiation more total and complete than this, I'd like to examine it with you.
11:55 a.m.
Conservative
Dean Del Mastro Conservative Peterborough, ON
I agree with you; I just think that had that statement been made by you in 1999, that would have been a powerful statement.
11:55 a.m.
P.C., As an Individual
Yes.
Oh, excuse me. This statement by Mr. Greenspan was sent to The Fifth Estate. They never referred to it. They just continued their implication that Britan was Brian, as they have been doing, playing this leading, enabling role for the get-out-of-jail card for Mr. Schreiber.
11:55 a.m.
Conservative
Dean Del Mastro Conservative Peterborough, ON
With regard to Mr. Schreiber's lawsuit against you, I've asked him a number of questions on that. Certainly it seems there have been references and speculation—we've heard some today—that the money he paid you was for services perhaps already provided to him; they were bribes or kickbacks.
I've gone after Mr. Schreiber several times and said to him, you wouldn't sue for a bribe or a kickback. He has emphatically indicated that they were not bribes or kickbacks, and that they had nothing to do with Airbus. But why, do you believe, is Mr. Schreiber suing you?
I recognize that this is a private matter, but it seems to me he has no receipts, he has no contracts, and his allegations are all of one-on-one meetings, so he'd have a pretty tough time proving this in court. I'm not a lawyer, but it seems to me he has an uphill battle to win this case.
Why is he doing it?
Noon
P.C., As an Individual
I think it was part and parcel of his strategy to dupe certain members of this committee and two important media institutions, to assist him in his ultimate objective to avoid deportation to Germany--where, as people have said, once his two feet touch German soil, he will never again have any freedom.
But your question, sir, is very important, because it says “What did he do for the money?” And why, 14 years later--again, that's 14 years later--did he sue me? Let me tell you very briefly, if I may, what he was saying just three years ago.
He sued me as part of his strategy to excite interest in Canada with false statements about Mr. Harper, who had nothing to do with anything, and with false statements about me to attract attention. I mean, what better way to do it than to accuse a Prime Minister and a former Prime Minister of impropriety and get the feeding frenzy going in the media?
Listen to this, an unsolicited letter--and I will have copies for you, sir--from Mr. Schreiber:
July 22, 2004 Dear Brian, Friends from around the world called and told me that they never understood better than now why I like the man Brian Mulroney even more than the Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. It is the quality of the human being which counts most in life. Your performance at President Ronald Reagan's funeral, “I say 'au revoir' today to a gifted leader, historic president and gracious human being”, has put you to the top of respect and admiration around the world.
Then, lo and behold, I get another letter from Mr. Schreiber in July of 2004:
Dear Brian, “Now he's got power”. Is Brian Mulroney Canada's greatest deal broker? Ever? I say: Yes! I saw it already coming when I met you at Harrington Lake. Since the Reagan funeral, in my opinion, your personal power increased even more and so do your personal obligations to the world. Fate plays an important role in the life of human beings. We know this. Nobody can escape fate. Fate has put you in my opinion in a position where you are able to help the human beings, especially the children of North America and around the world, in a dramatic way and your skill may put you in a special historical place and win a Nobel Peace Prize.
He concludes:
Dear Brian, with your help and the support of Mr. Bill Gates or the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation we should be able to help fighting the Obesity Epidemic in the U.S.A.
This relates directly to the anti-obesity pasta file.
The involvement of Mr. Gates would be to help financing the Pasta-Machines for the schools. I am convinced that the project will impress you and find your interest to help the children.
This is in 2004. He says I'm the greatest guy in the world. I'll admit that this is not a universally held opinion, but it's interesting that it's his. He knows that I know Bill Gates, and here he is asking me to intervene with Gates, or the Gates foundation, in this regard.
Noon
Conservative
Dean Del Mastro Conservative Peterborough, ON
Mr. Mulroney, of the evidence that Mr. Schreiber presented to the committee, the most troubling document is a letter dated May 8, 2007, a letter that makes some very significant accusations. Did you receive that letter, and if so, did you respond to that letter?
12:05 p.m.
Conservative
Dean Del Mastro Conservative Peterborough, ON
That was 2007. He indicates that he's prepared to disclose a number of accusations--
