Brian Mulroney, Karlheinz Schreiber, and another Government Scandal

As Rick Salutin put it in his Globe and Mail column this past Friday, "Brian Mulroney aggravates us still". About five years ago I picked up the Stevie Cameron book The Last Amigo. Never a fan of Mulroney, or the Conservative Party in general, I was interested in learning more about the relationship between Mulroney and German businessman Karlheinz Schreiber, a relationship that I presumed was rife with corruption. I found the book a really difficult read - following Schreiber's business dealings was tedious, with endless corporations, business relationships, and bank accounts.

In a nutshell, Schreiber acted as a middleman in arranging major league business deals, including deals between the Canadian government and various European industrial companies, such as arms and aircraft manufacturers. In 1995 Brian Mulroney was implicated by the RCMP and the Department of Justice for wrongdoing related to one such business deal where "commissions" were paid to broker a deal between Air Canada and Airbus Industrie. Air Canada ultimately purchased $1.8 billion dollars worth of aircraft from Airbus. As you might recall, at that time Mulroney denied a relationship with Schreiber (barring a few cups of coffee here and there) and eventually settled a defamation suit with the Canadian government for over $2 million dollars. What has brought this controversy to public attention again is that it has come to light that Mulroney accepted $300,000 in payments from Schreiber shortly after leaving the Prime Minister's Office.

What I remember most about the Stevie Cameron book was the fact that Elmer Mackay, Brian Mulroney's Minister of Public Works during the 1980s and father of current Defense Minister Peter Mackay, was a close personal friend of Schreiber. Schreiber stayed at Mackay's house in Nova Scotia when he fled Europe after charges of tax evasion were brought against him there. When Schreiber was arrested in Toronto in 1999, Mackay helped him secure bail money.

I was interested in finding out if Peter Mackay (someone for whom Mulroney has been described as a mentor) had any dealings with Schreiber. A quick google search revealed that the young Mackay had worked in Germany as an office assistant for Thyssen Industries for a short period in 1992-93. Thyssen Industries is a German company that wanted to establish an arms plant in Nova Scotia, and Schreiber was being paid by Thyssen to help convince the Canadian government of the benefits of such a plan. The $300,000 in cash paid to Mulroney by Schreiber came from Thyssen, presumably as part of these lobbying efforts.

Of course Mackay is trying to distance himself from this now, claiming that he barely knew Schreiber, but it does seem a little...funny??? I'm not sure if that's the right word. At the very least, I find it funny (amusing funny) that our Defence Minister worked for a company who was lobbying his father to build an arms manufacturing plant in his home province (as Diane Francis put it in her National Post column "it was a tank factory, by the way, that the Americans would not allow to be built in their country because of arms embargos") I think it says a lot.

Anyways, I guess I could go on and on about this, or maybe I already have, but I think the outcome of the government inquiry into this scandal will be interesting. At least I hope will be interesting, and not just another bunch of lies.

Hallowe'en Part Two

Here is the second group of Hallowe'en pictures at this link

Jackie and JFK

Tyler and I went out on the town as post-gunshot JFK and Jackie. We started at the Beaver, then the Drake for the Omy Hallowe'en party, and then over to boystown for some more partying. It was a great time and fun to see so many people dressed up and lots of really elaborate costumes, especially at the Drake! Unfortunately it rained, so the crowds on Church Street had sort of dispersed by the time we got there, but we still managed to meet some new people and have a good time.