Charlatan

So I've been avidly following the hearings into the dealings between Brian Mulroney and Karlheinz Schreiber. Everyone has known for sometime that Mulroney accepted $300,000 in cash from Schreiber, in fact, Mulroney received $2 million from the government in settlement over a potential defamation suit when the story was first cracked years ago.

So now that Schreiber is set to be deported to Germany to face charges of fraud and tax evasion, he is singing a new song. He has actively tied the money to Airbus kickbacks. Mulroney is set to speak today in the hearing. A poll I just read suggests that Canadians find Schreiber more believable than Mulroney.

What do you think?

There seems to be all sorts of layers to this onion. I am fascinated to hear that Schreiber gave money to Mulroney's machine to support the effort to oust Joe Clark. What I mean is, we sort of suspect this kind of thing happens -- foreign interests pumping money into the system to get the kind of leadership they want -- but it's rare to hear about it in an offical setting.

I can't help but think that if this was another nation, Schreiber would have been quietly assassinated years ago.

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

guyy

I wouldn't call it "foreign interests". All those rich guys don't hang around with the pols because they think they're cute or fun. No, it's money talking, and money talks just as loudly in Canada as elsewhere. Someone will always listen, even the right wing of the NDP.

Another German expat once wrote that the rule of the bourgeoise is guaranteed primarily through corruption of officials. Here we have it.

Charlatan

Hey guyy

While I can agree that it is largely rich guys buying power... in this case it was specifically foreign money influencing domestic affairs...

LINK

German money was given to the Mulroney campaign for the leadership of the Progressive Conservatives in hopes that he would be easier to deal with...

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

Elphaba

"I can't help but think that if this was another nation, Schreiber would have been quietly assassinated years ago."

I'm having thoughts that would get me water boarded at a dark site. Never mind, I prefer the back arrow.

__________________
"You can't ignore politics, no matter how much you'd like to." Molly Ivins - 1944-2007

guyy

It's nothing new. It'd be hard to think of a country where something of this sort hasn't happened. "Foreign meddling" happens even in big, powerful countries like the US, Russia, Japan, & France. Smaller countries just get invaded.

Charlatan

I think that was the point I was trying to make... that we believe it's happening but rarely do we actually get those involved speaking openly about it and on the record.

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

Sticky

Charlatn, is that really foreign interests or business interests.

I think it is just businesses - wherever they are.
In this case that Schreiber was referring to is probably just German businesses that had an interest in seeing something happen in Canada.

My point is that it is not that they are foreign that they are an issue.


The more interesting stuff to discuss here is the relative trustworthyness of the two men and how this will turn out in the end.
- Will people believe Mulroney?
- Will people believe Schrieber?
- Will this affect the approval levels for the various parties in the government?

I think that while Mulroney is not squeky clean, he is going to come out OK.
It is hard to tell from what is written in the Press, but to me Schreiber seems like he was all over the place. So far Mulroney has been clear (whether he is telling the truth or not).

What drives me nuts, however, is the time spent on this by Parliament.
What a waste of time and money. This guy is a former PM, not the current one.

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Sticky The Stickman

Leto

Yes, but to what end? I always thought that Mulroney was an American (conservative) patsy, the perfect companion to Reagan. Where does the German angle come in?

Ah yes, this is the end. It't not foreign (AKA political) interests that are involved, it is business interests that happen to be foreign. This foreign business influence over local policy is fairly comon isn't it? Didn't the Avro project fail because of (foreign) business interests (was it Boeing?)?


The reason they are dealing with it now, in Parliament is because Harper wants to distance himself from the old PC party. In this light, is well worth the cost and effort to him.

Charlatan

While I agree it's seems to be more German business than political, from the articles I was reading it was suggested that some of the money came from a German political party.

I can't find that article now but it was something like the Christian Union Party...

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

guyy

Found this on canada.com:

"Schreiber also told the committee he financed chartered airplanes for delegates from Quebec to attend a 1983 Tory convention in Winnipeg to vote against then-leader Joe Clark. He said the money came from his pocket as well as that of the late Franz Josef Strauss, the chairman of Airbus Industrie, and probably from his German political party, the Christian Social Union."

Charlatan

That's the quote... thanks.

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

Sticky

First, this does not do the conservative party any good.
Second, it was not Harper's idea to do all this.

Couldn't parliamne spend their time on more important things.
It is obviously not just this issues, things like this (wastes of time) are the focus too much of the time.
I would love to know how much time is wasted on stupidity and arguments about that stupidity in Parliament by all parties (people).

__________________
Sticky The Stickman

Charlatan

So the Parliamentary bit is now done and the official inquisition begins.

I have a feeling that, as usual, this is all going to get brushed under a big fat carpet.

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke