Evidence of meeting #8 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.
12:30 p.m.
As an Individual
I have no idea. It could have been Fred Doucet. It could have been Frank Moores.
12:30 p.m.
As an Individual
Normally some of them were with me when I met with Brian Mulroney.
12:30 p.m.
Liberal
Sukh Dhaliwal Liberal Newton—North Delta, BC
At this meeting, was the possibility of developing the Bear Head project in Quebec discussed?
12:30 p.m.
As an Individual
This is what it deals with. It shows you here. It was--
12:30 p.m.
As an Individual
Mr. Lay, Mr. Corbeil, and Mr. Bouchard. This is why I said earlier that Mr. Bouchard should know a lot about all of this.
12:30 p.m.
Liberal
Sukh Dhaliwal Liberal Newton—North Delta, BC
Did you have other meetings with Prime Minister Brian Mulroney where you personally discussed the Bear Head project?
12:30 p.m.
As an Individual
Whenever I met with him I discussed the Bear Head project. It was my job.
12:30 p.m.
As an Individual
Let me make something clear here. Once in a while I have this impression, when I look at the media, that one morning I woke up and said “Now I'm going to Canada to do the Bear Head project.” This is nonsense.
Thyssen was invited by the Canadian government to bring jobs to Nova Scotia. It was through the Canadian embassy, when Mr. McPhail used to be the ambassador. And it was Sinclair Stevens who came to Germany and begged for that.
12:30 p.m.
Liberal
Sukh Dhaliwal Liberal Newton—North Delta, BC
Mr. Schreiber, I wanted to know who else was present in those meetings.
12:35 p.m.
As an Individual
It could have been executives from Thyssen. I still have a funny gift in my place, a locomotive, big like this, with an extra seat in it. A Thyssen executive brought it here because Henschel is number one in locomotives. It has a nice sign on it: “Locomotives and prime ministers have something in common. They put things in motion.”
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
Sukh Dhaliwal Liberal Newton—North Delta, BC
I'd like to go forward to this year, to a letter you sent to Mr. Mulroney on April 14, 2007, where you responded to an assertion by Mr. Mulroney's lawyer that he does not owe you any money. You wrote:
I have a different understanding and I recommend that you will ask your friend Fred Doucet helping you to refresh your memory concerning the money and what it was for.
This is in reference to the $300,000 you gave Mr. Mulroney in 1993 and 1994 to promote the Bear Head project. Is that correct?
12:35 p.m.
As an Individual
Yes. You see, when he was in New York, Mr. Doucet was around. He knows what the money was for.
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
Sukh Dhaliwal Liberal Newton—North Delta, BC
From this letter I take it that Mr. Doucet knew you provided Mr. Mulroney with some money?
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
Sukh Dhaliwal Liberal Newton—North Delta, BC
And we know you have said Mr. Doucet was involved in setting up the June 23, 1993 meeting at Harrington Lake.
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
Sukh Dhaliwal Liberal Newton—North Delta, BC
So it means he was involved in the setting up of all the meetings, then?
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
Sukh Dhaliwal Liberal Newton—North Delta, BC
Thank you.
One last letter concerns your agreement with Mr. Mulroney to promote the Bear Head project. In your July 2004 letter to Mr. Mulroney, you wrote: “Is Brian Mulroney Canada's greatest deal broker? Ever? I say: Yes! I saw it already coming when I met you at Harrington Lake.”
What was it about the agreement you struck with Mr. Mulroney at Harrington Lake that leads you to call him Canada's greatest deal broker?
12:35 p.m.
As an Individual
When you see this brochure from The Globe and Mail, it shows how many companies Mr. Mulroney is involved in worldwide, from Barrick Gold to American Express, or whatever. This is what I saw. This is what I saw his future would be as a previous prime minister, with enormous contacts all over the world.
12:35 p.m.
Liberal
Sukh Dhaliwal Liberal Newton—North Delta, BC
Did he drive a hard bargain with you? What were his demands?
12:35 p.m.
As an Individual
Oh, no, he didn't bargain with me. There was no room for any bargaining.