Back in 1999, Schreiber was in Switzerland when German officials issued an arrest warrant for him. Elmer flew to Switzerland and flew back to Canada with Schreiber. Once in Canada, Schreiber was arrested on the German warrant to face extradition. Elmer paid $100,000 in bail. (Trudeau-era Justice Minister Marc Lalonde paid another $100,000 bail. However, Lalonde is generally described as a lobbyist working for Schreiber, while Elmer consistently describes his relationship with Schreiber as friendship.) Karl lived in Elmer's house for a while.
What is this strange relationship between Elmer and Karl? Many parents wouldn't cross an ocean to fetch back an errant child, much less a business acquaintance or friend.
As late as 2006, Elmer used Peter MacKay's constituency office resources to try to force the RCMP to back down in its investigation of Schreiber.
I wonder if Karl has been shaking down the Conservatives for a long time, threatening to reveal secrets if they don't keep him out of trouble.
Or Karl might be receiving help staying out of Germany because the German case against him includes bribes he paid to Canadians for the Airbus deal - some people in Canada may worry that if the Germans ever get him home for trial, the lid will be blown off the whole Airbus controversy. It is mighty suspicious that decades of RCMP investigations have revealed so little about the Airbus scandal: most of what we know about the scandal (such as Frank Moores' involvement) was uncovered by the media.
Or maybe Elmer MacKay is just the best friend a shady arms dealer could have.
6 comments:
As late as 2006, Elmer used Peter MacKay's constituency office resources to try to force the RCMP to back down in its investigation of Schreiber.
Whooee! Have you got documentation on that? This would be a smoking gun connecting the Harper government to Schreiber.
JB
Hi Jimbobby -
I'm not so sure it's a smoking gun, but it's widely reported.
For example, "Last year, the elder MacKay was caught using his son’s constituency resources to send a letter berating the RCMP for its investigation into Mr. Schreiber" (http://www.liberal.ca/story_13002_e.aspx).
Or: "November 2006 - Mulroney's former solicitor general, Elmer MacKay, agrees to reimburse federal government 17 cents for sending the RCMP a fax from son Peter MacKay's office in defence of Schreiber" (http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_16761.aspx).
Hmmm... 17 cents, eh? Even if there is a smoking gun, the 17 cents thing probably puts it in a category with small-town cheap golf balls or an infamous package of chewing gum.
The $100,000 bail bond is significant and under-reported, IMO.
JB - that's been in the news forever.
Also makes you wonder why Peter still won't reveal his leadership donors, who paid his debts after the party merger, eh?
I think the focus on the 17 cents is spin. The fax is a key bit of evidence that Elmer used Peter MacKay's constituency office as part of an attempted cover-up of the payments to Mulroney. It connects the current defence minister to a cover-up of cash payments to a former PM of his party. With some digging, we may find that there was more to Peter MacKay's involvement than a fax. Or maybe not.
Whooee! I agree that it's spin but it's effective. The MacKay connection got stronger at yesterday's hearing. Young Petey's employment with Schreiber client Thyssen is going to rear its head. Norman Spector has an interesting revelation, too, wrt Mulroney demanding a deal w/ Thyssen despite much offial resistance.
JB
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