ETHI Committee Report

In a lawsuit commenced 22 March 2007 against the Right Honourable Brian Mulroney, Mr. Karlheinz Schreiber filed an affidavit sworn 7 November 2007, wherein he claimed that he and Mr. Mulroney had an agreement, in which Mr. Schreiber paid $300,000 for lobbying services.

Concerns arose within the media, as well as among Parliamentarians, about the cash transaction between Mr. Mulroney and Mr. Schreiber and correspondence sent by Mr. Schreiber to Prime Minister Harper in this regard. On 9 November 2007, Prime Minister Harper announced that he would appoint an independent and impartial third party to review what course of action might be appropriate given Mr. Schreiber`s new allegations. On 12 November 2007, Mr. Mulroney issued a statement to the Canadian press asking the government to launch a full-fledged public commission of inquiry into the Airbus affair.

Prime Minister Harper announced on 14 November 2007 the appointment of Professor David Johnston, President of the University of Waterloo, as Independent Advisor to conduct an impartial review of allegations respecting the financial dealings between Mr. Schreiber and Mr. Mulroney and to make recommendations for an appropriate mandate for a public inquiry.

Pursuant to the following motion, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics (the Committee) agreed on 22 November 2007 to study the Mulroney Airbus Settlement:

That in order to examine whether there were violations of ethical and code of conduct standards by any office holder, the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics review matters relating to the Mulroney Airbus settlement, including any and all new evidence, testimony and information not available at the time of settlement and including allegations relating to the Right Hon. Brian Mulroney made by Karlheinz Schreiber and, in particular, the handling of allegations by the present government including the circulation of relevant correspondence in the Privy Council Office and Prime Ministers Office; that Karlheinz Schreiber be called to be a witness before the committee without delay; and that the committee report to the House its findings, conclusions and recommendations thereon.

The Committee held hearings from 29 November 2007 to 25 February 2008 and, in addition to the testimony of 12 witnesses over 27 hours of hearings, received a significant amount of documentation from its various witnesses. During the course of the Committee’s study, Professor Johnston issued a report containing his recommendations for what he believed to be an appropriate mandate for a public inquiry into the allegations respecting financial dealings between Mr. Schreiber and Mr. Mulroney¹.