Preview

Relationship Between Brian Mulroney And Karlheinz Schreiber

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
728 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Relationship Between Brian Mulroney And Karlheinz Schreiber
Brian Mulroney and Karlheinz Schreiber’s professional relationship was far from peripheral. Dating back to 1974, Mulroney and Schreiber have been friends, associates and eventually business partners. Initially, Montreal lawyer and former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney impressed Schreiber at the Progressive Conservative leadership convention in Ottawa. Thereafter, Schreiber infused about $30,000 into Mulroney’s Tory campaign only to be defeated by rival PC leader Joe Clark. Their affiliation did not perish however. Geoff Stevens explains in his timeline of the Airbus Affair that Schreiber paid for Conservative delegates whom opposed Clark to attend the Tory National Convention in Winnipeg. Coincidentally, at this convention, Clark failed to …show more content…
Was he that precarious as to who would be the best leader for Canada? Considering he was already a wealthy German businessman, I believe he had alternative interests. For instance, Schreiber’s company, International Aircraft Leasing had signed a sequestered contract that stipulated German aircraft producer, Messerschmitt Bolkow-Blohm would sell aircrafts to the government of Canada. It is not surprising that Mulroney reconfigured the entire Air Canada Board of Directors and the contract to purchase new aircrafts for the Coast Guard was given to Messerschmitt Bolkow-Blohm. As Geoff Stevens mentions, Schreiber was entitled to a commission for every sales transaction. This situation seems to exclude Mulroney, right? Wrong.

On June 23, 1993 the professional relationship between Mulroney and Schreiber seemed to escalade into a scandal. Geoff Stevens describes a situation in which Mulroney’s limousine transports Schreiber to the prime minister's seasonal haven at Harrington Lake, Quebec. The men discuss dealings whereby Schreiber will provide Mulroney $300,000 at three separate meetings. The transactions will be exercised in envelopes at hotels in Montreal and New York over the next two years. A slew of coded Swiss bank accounts and sub-accounts began to be discovered and the longest running scandal in Canadian history began to
…show more content…
He issued University of Waterloo President David Johnston to draft the terms of position for the civic analysis. In Johnston’s report, he clearly identifies that Mulroney was in the wrong and inappropriate conduct did occur. However, he concludes that it would be unfair speculation to rule Mulroney guilty by association. No charges were laid on Mulroney whereas Schreiber was deported to Germany and sentenced to 8 years in prison for tax evasion. Not long after, Harper appointed David Johnston as Governor General of Canada. These facts leave unanswered questions to me. How was Mulroney excluded from penal sanctions? Could it be possible that Harper did not want to shine a negative light on the Conservative party by admitting Mulroney accepted payoffs? Moreover, what happened to the $300,000 potential bribe that Mulroney received? How did Mulroney not only receive no consequences but also get compensation for apparent defamation and legal fees totaling $4.1 million? I speculate that Harper promised Johnston an appointment to Governor General if he did not find Mulroney to be in a conflict of interests. Conclusively, it is quite evident that apart from court appearances and some legal hassles, Brian Mulroney came out the victor in his divorce with

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Canadian politician leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, Brian Mulroney won election as leader of the PC in June of 1983. Born in March 20th, Mulroney pursued politics after being a lawyer and businessman. During the 9 years of his Prime Minister career, Mulroney brought in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), introduced a new consumer tax (GST), and also his change of the foreign policies — all which would nevertheless make him an effective Prime Minister of Canada.…

    • 529 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mulroney entered his first leadership race to replace Stanfield of the Progressive Conservatives, but lost to Claude Wagner in 1975-76. Following this, Mulroney took the job of Executive Vice President of the Iron Ore Company of Canada. Mulroney earned a lucrative salary, well into the six-figure range. In 1977, he was appointed company President. Mulroney had a hard time coming to terms with his loss of the leadership race, suffering from alcohol abuse and depression. In 1979, he completely quit drinking. Mulroney maintained and expanded his extensive political networking among business leaders and conservatives across the country. As his business reputation grew, he was invited onto several corporate boards. He turned down an offer to run in a Quebec by-election as a federal Liberal.…

    • 551 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Senate has been plagued with multiple embarrassing scandals in recent years. In November 2012 an investigation started with Patrick Brazeau about his living expenses claim and Pamela Wallin’s travel expenses claim. The Senate investigation was then extended to Mac Harbs living expenses in December 2012, then in February 2013, to Mike Duffy’s living expenses claims. It was then later stated that Duffy repaid $90,172 of his living expenses he claimed. However, through the media is was learned that Duffy was given a personal cheque by Nigel Wright, who at the time was Chief of Staff in the Prime Minister’s office. Brazeau,…

    • 375 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the federal election of October 1925, King-Byng affair occurred between Governor General Julian Byng and Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, when Liberals won 101 seats and Conservatives won 116 in the election. Therefore, King decided to call a re-election before he lost support of Progressives. However, when he asked Lord Byng to dissolve the Parliament, Byng refused; believing King should have resigned before (canadianautonomy.webnode.com, 2014). Subsequently, King and his government resigned leaving Canada without a Prime minister. “The Governor General proceeded as quickly as possible to ask Arthur Meighan, the leader of the Conservative party, and the party with majority of seats in the parliament, but the Meighans government lasted only three day before the non-confidence votes defeated it” (www.thewhig.com, 2014). After observing the situation and taking the advice of Meighan, Byng decided to dissolve parliament and call election, in which King had won. This event was significantly important to independence of Canada because it was one of the events which led to Canada’s autonomy. William Lyon Mackenzie King had stood up to British officials, stating that Byng didn’t act in Canada’s best interest, and a Canadian not a British official should represent Canada (http://prezi.com/, 2012). This was the last time in Canadian history that a Governor General disregarded the advice of a Prime Ministers. (ww.cbc.ca, 2014). This event led to the Balfour Declaration, which was also a step towards the independence of Canada.…

    • 314 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Louis Riel Sparknotes

    • 2697 Words
    • 11 Pages

    The Jury, Scott was guilty of a most serious crime. Smith tried to argue with Riel. This man has given us no choice. He has called us coward. He and all Canadian must learn that the Métis are men of their words.…

    • 2697 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Who Is Paul Martin?

    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages

    During the 1900s, Paul Martin was selected the Minister of Finance. In fact, he agreed that half of his shares will go to the Canada Steamship Lines under an agreement guided by lawyers and financial advisers. Until, he was removed as the Minister of Finance and wanted to go after the leadership of the Liberal Party in Canada. In addition, he told the media he would sell his interests in the company to his three sons because the company would distract him from winning the election (Canadian…

    • 738 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ever since the dramatic 1995 referendum, specifically, the degree of division it portrayed, Quebec became not only a discussion point, but a category of discussions questions. Ranging from debates in educational mediums, to Prime Minister election debate topics. We haven’t seen, as much dialogue regarding separatism recently, however, how a candidate speaks of their policies/views towards Quebec can either secure their victory as seen in the 2015 Federal election of Justin Trudeau. Or be a reason of their loss, as seen in the 2011 Federal election which sent the Liberals to third party status, duo to their horrendous results in Quebec ridings. However, the Trudeau article does more than just talk about Quebec separatism, but the federalist system in its entirety. Trudeau, in offering a last resort to the problems facing Canadian unity, also points out a fundamental issue of federalism. While doing so, however, also provides a solution, of Canada returning to its foundational constitutional principle of reason. Regarding the approaches of Quebec analysis, Trudeau on one hand focused some portion of the essay on every aspect, however, the essay was heavily: historically, institutionally, and social cleavage focused. While Rocher, was more focused on the: historical and psychological levels of…

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Tommy Douglas

    • 510 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Tommy Douglas was one of the most influential politicians in Canadian history, whose contributions were monumental in shaping our nation. He began as a Baptist minister and then entered politics by becoming a House of Commons member, then premier of Saskatchewan, and finally leader of the NDP federal political party. He achieved many great goals in his lifetime as a politician, but his two main achievements were leading the first socialist government elected in Canada thereby establishing democratic socialism in Canadian politics as well as being the creator of Medicare, the most advanced health care system in the world.…

    • 510 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Charlottetown Conference

    • 556 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Canada's most prominent politicians journeyed down the St. Lawrence River on a 191-ton steamer, with $13,000 of champagne in its hold, to attend the conference in Prince Edward Island. Those on board included John A. Macdonald, and George Brown from Upper Canada and George-Étienne Cartier, Thomas D'Arcy McGee and Alexander Galt from Lower Canada. Each journeyed to Charlottetown with a different motive in mind.…

    • 556 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Indeed, they polled 49.4% of the vote in 1959 but only 43.6% in 1964, a telling contribution to their defeat. Although some political analysts concur that the Liberal Revival did contribute somewhat to this landslide destruction in opinion polls, Marr concludes that the exemplifying reason for the Conservative downfall was weariness and a lack of spirit after thirteen unbroken years in government. Indeed, the Conservatives were viewed as, ‘out of touch,’ by the electorate and were plagued with various sex scandals, involving several key politicians. One such scandal was the Vassal Affair, where a civil worker within the Conservative Party was sought out to have been a Soviet spy. This greatly tarnished Macmillan’s ability as leader as he failed to spot a perpetrator at the heart of the Conservative establishment. Marr also brings to our attention the Philby Case, but more notorious was the Profumo Affair, in such a high ranking individual within the Conservative Party was caught to liaising in sexual relations with a lady with ties to the Soviet Embassy. In the heat of a Cold War environment, this was another grave security risk and provided satirical TV and radio shows with comical content for weeks as details of the case poured out of national newspapers. Moreover, the Argyll Case tarnished the reputation of the Conservative Party once and for all as…

    • 1408 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    conscription crisis

    • 392 Words
    • 1 Page

    Determining how popular and successful a Canadian Prime Minister is helps us understand our stance as Canadians on politics and the type of leadership we believe in. Prime Minister R.B. Bennett does deserve his bad reputation as he had a conceited attitude, and he did not know how to solve the depression. Firstly, he was perceived as conceited as he was a smart man who thought he knew what to do at all times and did not need advice or other people's opinions (“Canadian Politics in the 1930's and 1930's”, April 14th, 2014). This is made clear when he allowed the relief camps to continue to exist even after learning that they had serious problems and were not being helpful in any way because he thought that he could make a few changes to his original plan and make things work (“Canadian Prime Ministers in the 1920s and 1930s”, April 10th, 2014). Secondly, he did not understand the depression from the perspective of his people as he was detached from them, and therefore, was unable to solve it. This is evident when he raised tariffs on international goods to protect Canadian businesses thinking that it would create more jobs for the works but ended up causing major issues for industries that depended on exports, resulting in a standstill in foreign trade and worsening the effects of the depression (p. 164). Additionally, he never visited the relief camps in person so he was not aware of the poor conditions that existed within them which ultimately caused the Regina Riot (“Canadian Politics in the 1930's and 1930's”, April 14th, 2014). Some may say that he had a good plan, “The New Deal”, to solve the depression but he was voted out of power and just did not get a chance to implement it. However, he only proposed this new idea out of selfishness to gain some public support and votes as the elections were nearing, not to better serve the public interest (p. 165). In conclusion, Prime Minister Bennett…

    • 392 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Pierre Trudeau

    • 1586 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Pierre Trudeau Pierre Trudeau, former Prime Minister of Canada, was once described as "A French Canadian proud of his identity and culture, yet a biting critic of French-Canadian society, determined to destroy its mythology and illusions". He has also been identified as "A staunch, upholder of provincial autonomy holding the justice portfolio in the federal government". Such cumulative appraisal and observation made by past fellow bureaucrat provides high testimonial for the ex-Democratic Socialist. This critique will establish and dispute the prime directives that Trudeau had advocated in his own book written during the years 1965 to 1967. The compilation of political essays featured in his book deal with the diverse complexities of social, cultural and economical issues that were predominant in Canadian politics during the mid 1960's.…

    • 1586 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Brian Mulroney

    • 1100 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Throughout Canadian history there have been many influential political leaders in the past, but none as powerful or significant as Brian Mulroney. Despite the many political criticisms, Brian Mulroney served as the longest conservative prime minister in Canada, he attained a struggle through his pre-political life, which lead him to cleaning up his act and leading the conservative party to the greatest majority in Canadian history, he goes on to serve the legacy of one of the greatest political leaders of all time.…

    • 1100 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Airbus Affair

    • 604 Words
    • 3 Pages

    It is interesting to note that after the official inquiries are over, the question still stands on why Mr. Mulroney refused to disclose his relationship with Mr.Schreiber, even after being sued in March 2007 by Mr.Schreiber for $300,000 and several allegations. Although this relationship was eventually explored, from the time of the LOR to proven phone call records; Mulroney deliberately lied on many occasions about this relationship with Karlheinz Schreiber. The question here is what did he have to loose since his families’ reputation was already in shambles and he already lost public confidence? When he first responds to initial allegations at the first press conference he states, “ “he has absolutely nothing to do with Air Canada’s decision to buy planes from Airbus nor did he receive a cent from anyone, he was simply not part of any conspiracy what so ever.” As seen in the Oliphant Commission…

    • 604 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In this essay, I will demonstrate that the Prime Minister is powerful and can cause many potential dangers by analyzing different elements inside and outside of our government over the period of different Prime Ministers throughout the Canadian political history.…

    • 2075 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays