Evidence of meeting #16 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 money.
A recording is available from Parliament.
As an Individual
Yes. He was the owner of IAL, but he was not on the board--never. The only people who were in charge of the company were Mr. Frick and me. And Mr. Frick did nothing for the company; I did all the work.
NDP
Pat Martin NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB
I see.
Mr. Pelossi, I'm still interested in the period of time leading up to the Airbus purchase and this series of events, which I'll walk you through briefly.
In September 1984, Brian Mulroney was sworn in as the Prime Minister, and within six months he fired all of the board of directors of Air Canada and replaced that board with new directors, one of whom was Frank Moores.
NDP
Pat Martin NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB
You were aware of this.
Were you privy to any conversations during that period of time that these circumstances may in fact have been deliberately and consciously put in place to pave the way for the successful sale of Airbus planes to Canada?
As an Individual
I cannot say.
I didn't know that all the board was removed; I just knew from Mr. Schreiber that Mr. Moores was elected on the board. There was a guarantee for him to have somebody who would work in order to get the contract.
NDP
Pat Martin NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB
You were aware then, of course, that Mr. Moores was in fact a lobbyist for Airbus when Mr. Mulroney placed him as a member of the board of directors?
NDP
Pat Martin NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB
And it was obvious to you that they did so in order to influence the decision of the board to purchase Airbus airplanes rather than some other airplane.
NDP
Pat Martin NDP Winnipeg Centre, MB
Thank you.
The last question I have then, before I pass it over to my colleague, is regarding IAL leasing corporation. Was Engelbert Schreiber or his son, Engelbert Jr., ever involved with Kensington Anstalt, Erfel Anstalt International, IAL, or any other entities related to the Airbus transaction?
As an Individual
I don't remember. I know both, and sometimes I had companies with them, but I don't remember that it was one of these; IAL, in any case, not. It may be that I moved.... Yes, it's possible that Erfel was my company and that when we had the falling out I moved it to his office. It's possible. I'm not sure.
Liberal
Brian Murphy Liberal Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I think what we have, Mr. Pelossi, is a version in which you believed what Karlheinz Schreiber told you up until there were troubles for Mr. Schreiber and he started flinging mud in all directions. To be specific on that, you believed Mr. Schreiber when he told you that accounts were to be set up for certain purposes and certain people were to be paid off. Is that correct?
As an Individual
At that time, I had never had a reason to believe he was lying to me, because he didn't. In the 20 years we were together, everything he told me was true. I never had the impression that he was lying to me.
Liberal
Brian Murphy Liberal Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB
Can you think of a reason, Mr. Pelossi, why he would tell you that 25% of the money laid out for success in Airbus would go to Brian Mulroney, if it weren't true? Why would he say it to you?
As an Individual
The only reason, I think, is that I was entitled to have some 20% of the profit, and then he would have had to give me half of that, you see? If he pays 50% to somebody else, that's a cost. It would be only the other half, and a quarter of—
Liberal
Brian Murphy Liberal Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB
Fair enough.
The RCMP investigated this and took six hours of videotape from you, I believe. Is there anything in that testimony regarding the involvement of Mr. Mulroney, Airbus, or Bear Head that you haven't told this committee?
As an Individual
I don't think so. The testimony there is more accurate than what I can tell today, because I have no documents; I have just.... And to have things that happened 20 years ago....
Liberal
Brian Murphy Liberal Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe, NB
Okay.
Did you know, at the time it was set up, that the name Devon on the account was the name of a street upon which Mr. Mulroney's house existed?
