Like father, unlike son
That period would seem to have begun sometime after 1992, when the younger MacKay was employed for some months by Thyssen Industries, one of the companies Schreiber was then representing, in this case on the infamous Bear Head project to build light armoured vehicles -- in Nova Scotia, as it happens....
MacKay says at the time he "had no idea who Mr. Schreiber was or what his association was with Thyssen." So how did he get the job then?
Other questions: when did the younger MacKay first become aware of who Schreiber was? When did he become "leery" of him, and why? And why did his father ignore his warnings?
UPDATE: Luc Lavoie has signed off as Mulroney's spokesman. This is a shocker. Luc was with Mulroney from the very beginning of his travails, twelve long years ago -- about a quarter of the $2.1-million settlement was paid to Luc for his services -- but now, now, he doesn't have enough time for the job?
BACKDATE: It is, recall, the elder MacKay to whom we owe the pleasure of Schreiber's presence in this country. After Schreiber fled his native Germany, a warrant for his arrest outstanding, and one day after the arrest, in May 1999, of two executives at Thyssen with whom he had conspired to bribe German political figures -- this time in connection with a scheme to sell German tanks to Saudi Arabia -- it was MacKay senior who flew over to Switzerland to bring him back to Canada. He even bought him his ticket.
This incident has always been a bit of a puzzle. Why did Schreiber need MacKay to come and get him? Schreiber is a Canadian citizen. He's worth millions. Why couldn't he buy his own ticket?
And of course it was MacKay, along with Marc Lalonde, who bailed Schreiber out when he was arrested later that year, each posting $100,000 to assure the courts he would not flee yet a third country. A former solicitor general and a former justice minister.
After he had been released on bail, Schreiber stood outside the court, cameras rolling, and delivered himself of this statement:
It is, I think, a great pleasure to have friends. I have always had friends in my life. And I will never let a friend down. So they came here to get me out. I will never do anythng to harm them.
12/01/2007
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8 Comments
This column reminds me of why I was so
impressed by Andrew Coyne in spite of
his quite nutty enthusiasm for unlimited,
mass immigration.
Andrew is serving as our national
"institutional memory". That is a role
most of the Canadian "chattering classes"
studiously avoid, with only a few notable
exceptions like historian Michael Bliss.
When the father of one of the Muslim
wannabe terrorists in the Toronto bombing
plot gave an Oscar-quality performance
in front of news cameras about how surprised
he was that his son cloud possibly be
involved in a plot to murder hundreds of
Canadians in downtown Toronto with the 3 tons
of pure ammonium nitrate they had purchased,
most viewers would have been duped.
It was Andrew who pointed out that the
father had also tried to put up bail for
an Egyptian terror suspect judged so
dangerous that he was one of the few
terrorist suspects imprisoned in Canada
under one of those special security warrants.
Once again Andrew has reminded us of
facts from the past that puts current
events into a new and much clearer light.
Immigration Heretic
During a Paul Hunter story on CBC's National, on Friday, Peter MacKay's Communications Director was quoted, clarifying when it was that he (Peter) learned of the envelopes of cash - when he met with Schreiber. sometime during his term as Justice Critic.
Peter MacKay was Justice Critic from 1997-2002. During that period, he regularly fired QP salvos at the Liberal government deriding them about the lack of evidence they had when the Justice Dept. was pursuing Mr. Mulroney.
Wouldn't it turn out to be a little awkward if for any of that period of time that he was making such a fuss about a lack of evidence, he himself, an MP, member of the Commons Justice Committee, and Justice critic himself knew about the envelopes of cash and felt no compulsion, whatsoever to inform anyone?
Leery indeed.
The younger MacKay,QC just might have some 'splainin' to do.
Mulroney gets $300,000 to lobby after being PM. The media: Scandal!!! Our institutions are crumbling!!! Begin unprecedented hunt for dirt.
Chretien is worth millions, despite only a few years of non-governmental employ. Most money taken in before becoming PM, a much more suspicious set of circumstances, if buying influence is your game.
As PM, we have the Mounties acting as his personal political thugs, shaking down reporters and bank presidents, we have the golf course sold on a napkin, adscam, judgeships for election workers and the list goes on and on. The media: Chretch we miss you, coo coo.
@Anonymous,
Correction: Mulroney received $300,000 after being PM, for services rendered DURING his time as PM. That is the problem.
lk,
And your evidence is.....
To date there is no proof of that, in fact all evidence to the contrary, for the moment.
Why was Mulroney paid 2.1 million for costs? Becasue the government made an allegation it couldnt prove. The fact that Mulroney took some cash still doesnt prove that the allegation that got the government of the day in trouble is true.
Once again all players have pointed to future services, including Mr Schrieber's sattements before the committee.
Evidence may yet turn up to prove the allegations true, but right now nothing has changed. Mr Mulroney did not take a bribe, according to evidence laid out so far.
Lets not make statements of fact about people that there is no evidence for, and in fact there is only evidence for the exact opposite.
I am sure our host would not want what could easily be described as libellous statements on his blog.
Let the evidence come out and lead you to your conclusion or couch your statement appropriately.
Immigration Heretic:
That's why even lefties like me love AC. Whether you agree with him or not, he has integrity to spare, and he always remembers to put things in their proper context.
Herb,
When all objective evidence says that nobody can screw things up as royally, consistently and predictably as governments, how does an intelligent human remain a "lefty"? Isn't that much like a third marriage, the triumph of hope over experience?
lk,
You're an idiot. If a serving PM could be bought for 300k, I'd have a stable.