Stéphane Dion on Afghan detainees, Mulroney-Schreiber

Stéphane Dion on transfer of Afghan detainees

[09:44]

Press conference on January 25, 2008. Stéphane Dion gives a brief review of Harper government record followed by lengthy discussio Stéphane Dion gives a brief review of Harper government record followed by lengthy discussion of Conservative policy on transferring Afghan detainees (scrum, January 25, 2008). Dion reveals that he and Michael Ignatieff were informed confidentially of the change in detainee transfer policy while in Afghanistan earlier in January. Dion and Ignatieff were bound by confidentiality not to disclose the information until it was made public by the government. Stéphane Dion, chef de l'Opposition, commente la politique du gouvernement sur le transfert de détenus afghanes (point de presse le 25 janvier 2008). (EN/FR)

Stéphane Dion commente l'affaire Mulroney-Schreiber

[00:38]

Point de presse le 25 janvier 2008. Stéphane Dion, chef de l'Opposition, commente l'affaire Mulroney-Schreiber - «on a besoin d'av Point de presse le 25 janvier 2008. Stéphane Dion, chef de l'Opposition, commente l'affaire Mulroney-Schreiber - «on a besoin d'avoir une enquête complète». (Français)

Stéphane Dion - More year-end & Bali interviews

Stéphane Dion, Global National, Dec 2007

"Canada in Conversation" - Global National anchor Kevin Newman interviews official opposition leader Stéphane Dion, December 2007. Dion discusses Canada's combat mission in Afghanistan, the Manley commission, election chances in 2008, the Mulroney-Schreiber affair, and Dion as a politician. [08:15, English]

Stéphane Dion - year-end interview (Don Newman, Politics, CBC, Dec 18, 2007)
Canadian Liberal leader Stéphane Dion in a year-end interview with the CBC's Don Newman (Politics), December 18, 2007. Topics include election readiness, income trusts, United Nations climate change conference in Bali, Kyoto Protocol, environment. [10:16, English]

Update! - a slightly edited version of the above CBC intvu (to fit the under-10 minute requirement) is now available on YouTube:

Stéphane Dion - year-end interview (Question Period, CTV, Dec 23, 2007)
Canadian Liberal leader Stéphane Dion in a year-end interview with CTV's Craig Oliver (Question Period), December 23, 2007. Dion discusses possibility of an election in 2008, the economy, Harper's lack of plans, the Liberal team, Quebec, federal-provincial relations, the need for a public inquiry into the Mulroney-Schreiber affair, winter in the Laurentians in the snow with Kyoto. [11:54, English]

And here's another Bali interview. . .
Stéphane Dion - entrevue sur le blocage des négociations à la conférence de Bali
L'entrevue avec Stéphane Dion sur le blocage des négociations à la conférence de Bali. (Radio Canada, le 14 décembre 2007. Environnement, changements climatiques, gaz à effet de serre, UNFCCC, ONU, Nations Unies) [5:43, français]

And here's a link to my previous post with video of more year-end interviews, Dion's press conference in Bali, and (a blast from the recent past) Dion's throne speech response (October 17).

Not answering the question, in both official languages

As we all know, a lot of people question Stéphane Dion's English-language skills. His French-language skills however are generally agreed to be impeccable.

But today we learned that apparently Justice Minister Rob Nicholson doesn't understand either of Canada's official languages.

Minister Nicholson demonstrates the fact in today's Question Period:

The hunter is now the hunted

So it turns out that avoiding an election wasn't such a bad idea after all.

PARTY STRATEGY - Events revitalize Dion's troops
Liberals aiming to avoid vote, give probe some time to unfold
Toronto Star. Nov 15, 2007 04:30 AM. Les Whittington, Ottawa Bureau

OTTAWA - The Liberals are more determined than ever to avoid an early election as Stéphane Dion's suddenly revitalized troops savour the prospect of potentially explosive public hearings focused on their Conservative foes.

In yesterday's closed-door Liberal caucus gathering, Dion warned his MPs they must be extremely cautious to avoid any Conservative parliamentary manoeuvres that would trap them into voting down the government and forcing an early election, insiders said.

Liberals now want to put off an election as long as possible in light of the public inquiry on the business relations between Brian Mulroney and Karlheinz Schreiber. They want to give the inquiry time to put the former prime minister and other Conservatives on the stand to answer questions about the tangled financial matters from the Mulroney years.

"The hunter is now the hunted," said Liberal MP Dan McTeague (Pickering-Scarborough East), summing up the change of mood among Liberals.

Party sources said that, prior to the last few days, some Liberals were growing restive about abstaining in parliamentary votes to keep from being dragged into an election by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. These MPs were becoming convinced it was time to throw caution to the wind and put the Harper government's leadership to the test at the polls by defeating the Tory minority.

But now that events have compelled the government to agree to hold a public inquiry into the Mulroney-Schreiber dealings, the attitude among Dion's caucus has been transformed almost overnight.

"The chemistry is completely different," Liberal MP Garth Turner (Halton) said after a caucus meeting in which Dion was reportedly able to tap into a rare atmosphere of collective enthusiasm.

"This really opens up a whole new chapter in this session of Parliament," Turner said in an interview. "For now, I don't think the opposition parties would dream of going to an election."

MP Robert Thibault (West Nova), who has become a Liberal spokesperson on this issue, said it's not clear how long the opposition can hold off an election "but I certainly would want these facts to move forward" at the inquiry.

Liberals have not forgotten that public inquiries like the Gomery commission into the sponsorship scandal have the potential to unearth information that can be extremely damaging to the political party under investigation. And they point out that since Harper and Mulroney have become confidants in recent years, the scope for discovery is unpredictable once witnesses begin to testify and secret documents and records are brought into the open.

Liberal Bryon Wilfert (Richmond Hill) said the political landscape could change drastically in the wake of the events of the past few days. "Brian Mulroney obviously wants to show that his reputation is intact and he, I think, outsmarted Harper by calling for the public inquiry" after the Prime Minister had said such a probe was unnecessary.
(Source: http://www.thestar.com/News/article/276677)

Accountability and transparency - not

Dion wants answers over Mulroney affair
Toronto Star, Nov 11, 2007 07:02 PM
Jim Brown, THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA - Liberal Leader Stephane Dion says he's finding it "very hard to believe" that Stephen Harper only found out last week about details of the controversial business dealings between Brian Mulroney and German-Canadian businessman Karlheinz Schreiber.

In an interview Sunday on CTV's Question Period, Dion noted that government officials are now acknowledging Schreiber wrote a letter addressed to the prime minister in March outlining his past contacts with Mulroney.

Aides to Harper insist, however, that the letter never got beyond the Privy Council Office, which failed to pass it on to the prime minister last spring.

"There is a cover-up somewhere," Dion maintained. "I cannot believe it is the Privy Council Office, the most important authority of the civil service...

"The prime minister has to explain: What did he know, when did he know it?"

Harper announced on Friday he would appoint an independent third party to review issues raised by the affair and recommend whether further steps, such as a full-fledged public inquiry, are needed.

The move came after Schreiber filed an affidavit in Ontario Superior Court adding new allegations to an old dispute over $300,000 in cash paid to Mulroney after he stepped down as prime minister.

Schreiber now claims the deal was struck in June 1993, while Mulroney was still prime minister. He also claims a Mulroney adviser asked him at one point to transfer money related to the purchase of Airbus jets by Air Canada to a Swiss lawyer who represented Mulroney.

None of the allegations have been proven in court, and some of them contradict testimony Schreiber has previously given. He is currently embroiled in a civil suit with Mulroney, as well as fighting extradition to Germany on fraud and tax evasion charges.

Schreiber claimed as well, in his latest affidavit, that Mulroney was supposed to deliver a letter from him to Harper and discuss their business arrangements in the summer of 2006.

Harper has confirmed he met Mulroney that summer, but says he didn't get any letter and there was no talk of Schreiber during the get-together.

New questions surfaced on the weekend, when the Globe and Mail reported Schreiber had also written directly to Harper in March of this year. It was that letter Dion seized upon, demanding to know whether Harper had been aware of the brewing storm but kept quiet about it for seven months.

Sandra Buckler, the communications director for Harper, denied that was the case.

"Mr. Schreiber's letter was processed by the Privy Council Office and was not forwarded to the Prime Minister's Office," she said in an email Sunday.

She offered no further explanation except to say that PCO routinely handles all incoming mail for the prime minister.

Dion, for his part, urged Harper to call a full public inquiry now rather than wait for the matter to be reviewed by a third party.

"We need to know exactly what happened," the Liberal leader told CTV. "We are speaking about something that in a democracy should not happen – the possibility of a former prime minister receiving cash money from obscure services given by a business person who was in trouble with the justice system."

Mulroney has never publicly explained the nature of the business dealings that earned him $300,000 from Schreiber. Spokesmen for the former prime minister have insisted it had nothing to do with Airbus and related to other commercial ventures including a pasta business Schreiber was trying to start with Mulroney's help.

The RCMP and the federal Justice Department named Mulroney in a letter to Swiss authorities in 1995, suggesting he may have been involved in kickbacks arising from the Airbus transactions with Air Canada.

Mulroney sued for libel when the letter became public and won an apology and a $2.1 million settlement from the Liberal government of Jean Chrétien.

In a brief written statement last week, the former prime minister promised to co-operate with the third-party review announced by Harper but offered no further comment.
(Source: http://www.thestar.com/News/article/275533)