Report of the Independent Advisor into the Allegations Respecting Financial Dealings Between Mr. Karlheinz Schreiber and the Right Honourable Brian Mulroney

Table of Contents

Schedule 4

Media Statements by Mr. Mulroney's Spokespersons

1. In October 1999, Luc Lavoie denied that Mr. Mulroney had accepted any money from Mr. Schreiber. He told the media: "the bottom line is that he [Mr. Mulroney] never received any money from anybody. Because there never was any money." More recently, Mr. Lavoie said his remarks at the time were limited to allegations arising out of the Airbus deal.

   Source:  Brian Laghi “Mulroney spokesman gives up his duties” The Globe and Mail (1 December 2007) A4.

2. Sometime in 2002, Mr. Mulroney acknowledged he received payments from Mr. Schreiber after he left the prime minister's office. The explanation given was that Mr. Schreiber paid him for consulting services in connection with a pasta venture for which Mr. Mulroney's business connections through Archer, Daniels Midland were useful. Mr. Mulroney also said he reported the money to the revenue service and paid all due taxes on it.

   Source: Hubert Bauch "Mulroney challenged on $300,000 payment" The Gazette (Montreal) (9 February 2006) A1.

3. In November 2003, Mr. Lavoie is reported to have said that Mr. Mulroney never lobbied for Mr. Schreiber and therefore did not have to register as a lobbyist. Mr. Lavoie was quoted as: "The truth is, Mulroney never had anything to do with Airbus, he had nothing to do with MBB and he had nothing improper to do with Bearhead. Being hired as an international adviser after he left office was entirely consistent with the practice he was setting out to establish."

   Source: William Kaplan "Schreiber hired Mulroney" The Globe and Mail (10 November 2003) A1.

4. In 2004, Pat MacAdam, a close friend of Mr. Mulroney, sent a fax to William Kaplan while he was writing a book about the cash payments. The fax stated: "The amount Mulroney received was $225,000 - not $300,000 - and he declared it and paid tax on it".

   Source: Greg McArthur "Schreiber files suit on Mulroney" The Globe and Mail (24 March 2007) A2.

5. In January 2007, Mr. Lavoie acknowledged that the amount Mr. Schreiber paid to Mr. Mulroney was $300,000 when he said that the RCMP informed Mr. Mulroney in the summer of 2000 that they were aware of a $300,000 retainer from Schreiber: "There were formal contacts between the RCMP and Mr. Mulroney's lawyer in which it was made clear that they knew that." In response to questions regarding why Mr. Mulroney was paid in cash, Mr. Lavoie stated: "All the retainers he [Mr. Schreiber] had with people ... were paid in cash. Cash is legal tender, and as long as you pay your taxes what you're doing is legal." Mr. Lavoie would not reveal when Mr. Mulroney paid taxes on the money, saying it was "nobody's business."

   Source: Jim Bronskill and Joan Bryden, "Justice Department weighed reopening 1997 Airbus settlement with Mulroney" The Canadian Press (23 January 2007) (QL).

6. On October 30 2007, in a letter sent to the Globe and Mail, one of Mulroney's spokespersons explained that Mr. Mulroney was delayed in paying his taxes on the money he received from Mr. Schreiber because of the allegations in the LOR sent to Switzerland, which was a "cataclysmic event" that disrupted his life. The letter stated, "as such, it is understandable that until all these matters were resolved - as they eventually were with his total vindication - he could not resume normal functioning and attend to normal day-to-day affairs ... and indeed to the point of the finalization of his tax matters with his accountants."

   Source: Greg McArthur "Brian Mulroney: the payments and the taxman" The Globe and Mail (31 October 2007) A1.

7. In April 2007, shortly after Mr. Schreiber commenced his lawsuit against Mr. Mulroney, Mr. Lavoie described the lawsuit as "merit-less, groundless."

   Source: Richard Brennan "It's the saga that just won't end" The Toronto Star (7 April 2007) F01.

8. On November 8, 2007, Mr. Lavoie told the Globe and Mail that Mr. Mulroney met with Mr. Schreiber at Harrington Lake on June 23, 1993, but said "there was no discussion whatsoever ... of any agreement of any sort." He described Mr. Schreiber's visit as "a courtesy sort of thing," set up by Fred Doucet, who was Mr. Mulroney's chief of staff beginning in 1983. When Mr. Lavoie was asked how Mr. Mulroney knew to meet Mr. Schreiber two months later at a hotel in Montreal to pick up $100,000, he stated that Mr. Doucet arranged for this first payment some time after the Harrington Lake meeting.

   Source: Greg McArthur "Mulroney adviser asked Schreiber to transfer Airbus funds, affidavit alleges" The Globe and Mail (9 November 2007) A1.

9. On November 12, 2007, Mr. Lavoie was reported to have said that Mr. Mulroney received his last cash instalment at the Pierre Hotel in New York on Dec. 8, 1994 and that Mr. Doucet was present there.

   Source: Greg McArthur "Mila Mulroney offered support to Mrs. Schreiber" The Globe and Mail (12 November 2007) A1.

10. Also in November 2007, Mr. Lavoie said that Mr. Schreiber met with Mr. Mulroney at the Chateau Mirabel hotel to propose that Mr. Mulroney act as a consultant on Mr. Schreiber's projects with an "international dimension", which included a military vehicle plant in Montreal and a pasta business. Mr. Lavoie said that this meeting occurred approximately one week before the October 1993 federal election, when Mr. Mulroney was still a sitting Member of Parliament and in financial straits. In an interview with the Ottawa Citizen, Mr. Lavoie suggested that Mr. Mulroney was surprised when Mr. Schreiber presented him with cash at that meeting. Mr. Lavoie is quoted as saying: "Then he [Mr. Schreiber] said 'I would give you $100,000 a year' and then he pulled out an envelope with $100,000, and Mr. Mulroney said 'what is that?' He said 'Well, I want to pay you in cash.' So Mr. Mulroney asked a few questions. 'Why would you do this in cash?' and all that. Mr. Mulroney admits today that he made a colossal mistake."

    Source: Campbell Clark and Brodie Fenlon "Opposition unites to force Commons investigation" The Globe and Mail (22 November 2007) A9.