Information & Ethics Committee on Dec. 11th, 2007

[Karlheinz Schreiber]

Second—I do this only as a reminder: government afraid of an Airbus inquiry; Schreiber charged to make sure that nobody forgets who was always in favour of this.

Then, unfortunately, Mr. Comartin is not here today. I will hand over a letter I have sent to Mr. Comartin and the letter I received from the Honourable Marlene Jennings.

I also would like to say that Mr. Comartin made some comments about me and where my personality or my ethical understandings are. I found this pretty ignorant, because if he's doing things like this—

[The Chair, Liberal, Paul Szabo]

Order. Mr. Schreiber, let's see whether we can keep away from personal characterizations, please.

[Karlheinz Schreiber]

I apologize, because then he puts me together with Tony Blair and Maggie Thatcher. I put it in front of you because in the international world nobody cares what the Canadians want. It depends on what the client wants.

Then, I have to say that when the RCMP said I was wrong, that they interviewed me several times, that's completely wrong. I asked you that day, do you refer to meetings with the RCMP before the settlement agreement? The answer is clearly no. I was not even in the country. So it's another wrong statement from the RCMP. I have marked it here and I have put it to you.

Then for my friend on the left, who had this friendly recommendation the last time for me to go to Germany, I brought you the article “Human Rights Violation in Germany”. It may help you to understand what's really going on. Yes, sir, there are wonderful Germans, but there were also the Germans who did the Holocaust and those who shut their own families behind the Iron Curtain. Perhaps you can learn something.

Then I put this also there. Then it's hard for me to believe that Prime Minister Harper did not speak with Mr. Mulroney about my letter or my case, because the meeting was not that far away from the program on The Fifth Estate, “Money, Truth & Spin”.

I want to tell you one remark and then I'm through. In that case, it was the big fight for big money. Today, in this country, it's exactly the same, more or less with the same people. You have heard about my letters to the Prime Minister and to Mr. Mulroney, but so far you have not the smallest clue as to how the projects happened. Only I can tell you. Therefore I recommend urgently that you invite as a key witness Mr. Benoît Bouchard. He was involved in the Airbus because he was then the Minister of Transport, and he was also involved in the Bear Head project.

I have some more witnesses I would recommend, but I will do this in writing.

Thank you for your attention.

[The Chair, Liberal, Paul Szabo]

Thank you kindly, Mr. Schreiber.

I'm going to move now to questions by members.

The Honourable Robert Thibault, ten minutes.

[Robert Thibault, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Schreiber, welcome to the committee once again. I have a series of questions to ask you.

First, you mentioned Mr. Bouchard's name without going into details. Do you know anyone who would have given funds to Mr. Bouchard, personally or through a third party?

[Karlheinz Schreiber]

These are exactly the questions, Mr. Thibault, I'm very much interested in finding out. I think this is something for an inquiry and should not be discussed here.

[Robert Thibault, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

Thank you.

[The Chair, Liberal, Paul Szabo]

Point of order? Okay, I know where this is going.

Mr. Schreiber, not answering a question is not an option here, if you have knowledge. You have been asked directly, and you should respond unless you can give me proper justification why the matter should not be answered at this time. I'll consider it, but primarily, questions posed by members must be answered by you.

[Karlheinz Schreiber]

I have no direct knowledge about anything around that. I have a certain idea, but this only can be done when you ask other witnesses.

[Robert Thibault, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

Thank you.

At the Harrington Lake meeting in June 1993, you told Mr. Mulroney that you had to check how much money in the Frankfurt account was available for the Bear Head project. You subsequently stated that all the money in the Bear Head account, $500,000, had nothing to do with the Bear Head project.

Is that correct?

[Karlheinz Schreiber]

Yes, but I did not say to him that I had to check the Frankfurt account. Names were not mentioned. I just said I'm going to check with the bank what money is available.

[Robert Thibault, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

I'd refer you to the testimony. I don't have a copy of it here, but I went through it on the weekend, and in questions you did refer that you would check the Bear Head account, or the Thyssen money.

[Karlheinz Schreiber]

Yes, that's correct.

[Robert Thibault, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

So you checked the Thyssen money.

[Karlheinz Schreiber]

Yes.

[Robert Thibault, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

So you told Mr. Mulroney you were checking the Thyssen money.

[Karlheinz Schreiber]

Yes.

[Robert Thibault, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

Then you determined that $500,000 was available. Was that the total remainder of the original $4 million from the commission?

[Karlheinz Schreiber]

Yes, sir.

[Robert Thibault, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

Do you have records of where the other money went, the $3.5 million?

[Karlheinz Schreiber]

No.

[Robert Thibault, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

From your hands or the accounts you had control of, the IAL account and the Frankfurt account, was that $3.5 million all transferred to GCI?

[Karlheinz Schreiber]

I have no recollection, sir, because I don't have the accounts. They are all with the RCMP or with the Germans.

[Robert Thibault, Liberal, West Nova, NS]

But you would have seen those accounts a number of times. Do you have a memory of transferring money to any other account except that one?

[Karlheinz Schreiber]

I have a problem now with what you are asking me. There must have been more money in the Frankfurt account, because I told you this was the rest, what was left. I kept it there because the project was not finalized. So there must have been more money coming to the Frankfurt account, and it must have then been distributed either to Frank Moores, Gary Ouellet, or other accounts, but I don't know.