December 4, 2008

 

Documents that appear to contradict sworn testimony from an aide to Brian Mulroney about the "Airbus" affair should be examined at an upcoming public inquiry, says the veteran Mississauga MP who formerly chaired the House of Commons ethics committee.

The documents show committee members were deprived of crucial information when they were looking into circumstances surrounding cash payments German-Canadian businessman Karlheinz Schreiber made to former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in 1993 and 1994, veteran Mississauga South MP Paul Szabo said yesterday.

"They effectively subverted the opportunity the committee had to get at the truth," said Szabo, who chaired the committee during hearings that began a year ago and continued into this year. Posted on Schreiber's website and featured last night on CBC's

A fax on Air Canada letterhead to "J. Doucet" (Doucet's given names are Jean Alfred) from Aug. 27, 1993 confirms the delivery of 34 Airbus jets to the airline in the preceding four years. Also on that day, Schreiber met Mulroney in a Montreal airport hotel room and handed over $75,000, the first of three cash installments.

Doucet's lawyer, Robert Houston, had no comment yesterday. A spokesperson for Mulroney had no comment. The documents indicate Doucet could be found in contempt of Parliament, said Szabo, who also had harsh words about Schreiber's conduct.

The German-Canadian businessman was in a position to tell the ethics committee about the contents of the documents during his testimony, even if he didn't have the pieces of paper in hand, Szabo argued. Szabo said he's considering asking to have both men found in contempt of Parliament and possibly referring the matter to a prosecutor to determine if there are grounds for perjury or obstruction of justice charges.

Had University of Waterloo president David Johnston known about the documents before drafting terms of reference for the inquiry into the Mulroney-Schreiber affair, he wouldn't have concluded the sale of Airbus jets and alleged commissions to politicians were well-tilled ground that should be excluded from the inquiry, Szabo said.

Both Szabo and the NDP's Pat Martin, who also sat on the ethics committee, want the scope of the inquiry broadened so Justice Jeffrey Oliphant, the commissioner, can consider the documents when the probe begins in February.

Martin, a Winnipeg MP, wants the issue returned to the ethics committee for consideration, but Szabo said current events in Ottawa complicate the situation. The committee hasn't been reconstituted since the election and must be chaired by a member of the official Opposition. "I don't know whether or not I'm going to be a member of the official Opposition or the (proposed coalition) government," Szabo said.