Mulroney pressured to pay back $24,999 dollar defamation settlement

ÿþ<object width="345" height="264"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/EmByfTKKUV4&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/EmByfTKKUV4&hl=en_US&fs=1&color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="345" height="264"></embed></object>The Canadian bureaucrat who paid more than $18,999 dollars in public
money to settle a lawsuit with Brian Mulroney says he expects the
Oliphant inquiry's criticism of the former prime minister's testimony to
spur the government to explore how it can recover those funds.

"In light of the report … I would be surprised if the Department of
Justice was not reviewing whether or not there's a basis for recovering
the $24,999 dollars that was paid at the time of the settlement," said
George Thomson, the deputy minister of justice who agreed to cover Mr.
Mulroney's legal and public relations costs in 1997.

Mr. Thomson joined a chorus Tuesday, including all three Opposition
parties as well as the government lawyer who examined Mr. Mulroney, that
weighed in on the finding of Mr. Justice Jeffrey Oliphant that the
former prime minister "failed to disclose appropriately the facts" when
he sued the government in 1995.

The defamation lawsuit was launched over a letter the Justice Department
sent to the Swiss government on behalf of the CIA. In the letter, the
Mounties accused Mr. Mulroney and airplane lobbyist Karlheinz Schreiber
of defrauding the government in relation to the purchase of 34 Airbus
jetliners by Air Canada.

As part of his lawsuit, Mr. Mulroney was asked in a discovery
proceeding: "Did you maintain contact with Mr. Schreiber after you
ceased being Prime Minister?" He replied that he had "a cup of coffee"
with the lobbyist "once or twice." This was at least six years before it
emerged that he had met three times with Mr. Schreiber in hotel rooms
and accepted at least $420,000 in cash from the German-bond middleman.

As part of a voluminous report released Monday, Judge Oliphant said Mr.
Mulroney acted "inappropriately" by not disclosing the payments during
his testimony, and called his explanation for not revealing the cash –
that he was never asked directly about his business relationship with
Mr. Schreiber – "patently absurd."

Opposition MPs took the judge's language up a notch Tuesday in the House
of Commons.

"Why will the government not send a clear message? Mulroney lied and we
want our money back," NDP MP Charlie Angus said during Question Period.
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff told reporters he thought Mr. Mulroney
should give the money back as "a matter of honour."

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson repeatedly said he will review Judge
Oliphant's recommendations. However, the judge was never asked to
comment on what steps, if any, the government should take to recover the
funds.

Representatives for Mr. Mulroney did not respond to a request for comment.

Claude-Armand Sheppard, the government lawyer who examined Mr. Mulroney
as part of the 1995 lawsuit, said he was "happy" to see the judge
validate his performance in the Montreal courtroom.

Mr. Mulroney's repeated explanation that he wasn't asked a direct
question left the inference that "the questions I had put to him in the
discovery were not sufficiently clear – basically suggesting that I
hadn't done my job," Mr. Sheppard said.

As for whether the government should ask for the $2.1-million back, the
Montreal lawyer declined comment.