Inkless Wells

Paul Wells on all the latest out of Ottawa—along with the occasional post about jazz. Follow Paul on Twitter: @InklessPW

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Bells' hells

by Paul Wells on Wednesday, March 18, 2009 10:58pm - 4 Comments

“I want to tell you tonight that I, Martin Brian Mulroney, 18th prime minister of Canada, will be there before the [public] inquiry with bells on because I’ve done nothing wrong and I’ve got absolutely nothing to hide.” A spokesman for Mr. Mulroney welcomed the government’s announcement. “It will finally shed light on everything,” Luc Lavoie said. “We will be able to hear from everyone.”

Globe and Mail, Nov. 14, 2007

Former prime minister Brian Mulroney is questioning the scope of a public inquiry into his business dealings with German-Canadian arms dealer Karlheinz Schreiber and asking for a delay in hearings while the matter is sorted out. In an application filed with the inquiry, Mulroney’s lawyer Guy Pratte requests that the hearings, currently scheduled to start March 30, be postponed until April 14.

Canadian Press, tonight

Tags: Brian Mulroney, time flies

More by Paul Wells

James Connors

From your links:

“Schreiber, who faces charges of tax evasion, bribery and fraud . . .”

Mulroney, not so much:

From:

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080227/ethics_committee_080227/20080227?hub=TopStories

“Schreiber claims he later gave Mulroney $300,000 in cash payments for his lobbying activities, including $100,000 in August, 1993 when Mulroney was still a Member of Parliament. He alleges Mulroney did not do any work for the money.

Mulroney has denied any wrong doing, and none of the allegations against him has been proven in court.

Mulroney testified before the ethics committee in December that he was only paid $225,000 in cash and maintains he did legitimate work for Schreiber, including lobbying world leaders to buy the armored vehicles for UN peacekeeping missions. Mulroney has admitted he did not pay tax on the $225,000 until 1999 when he learned Schreiber had been charged in Germany for bribery, fraud, forgery and tax evasion. “

Canuckistanian

“Mulroney has admitted he did not pay tax on the $225,000 until 1999 when he learned Schreiber had been charged in Germany for bribery, fraud, forgery and tax evasion. “

I forgot about the provision in the Income Tax Act that only requires you to declare taxable income if the person who paid this income is charged with fraud, bribery et al.

http://accidentaldeliberations.blogspot.com The Jurist

Let’s note that Mulroney didn’t reverse all of his position at once. It was only a couple of months after the first quote above that he decided he didn’t want an inquiry after all, but still declared his intention to cooperate if one was launched. And his moves to gum up the works have been increasing with time as well – with the new argument sounding like a rehashing of the dispute last fall as to the inquiry’s scope.
SAB

Who @%!#$ing cares about any of this. Either it was illegal or it wasn’t. Presumbaly, a public inquiry is not the place to make such a determination. What a waste of taxpayer money and of media mindshare.