Injured Elmer MacKay cancels appearance at ethics probe
An injury has forced cabinet minister Elmer MacKay to cancel his appearance before the federal ethics committee, which is hearing from Karlheinz Schreiber's former accountant and investigative journalist Stevie Cameron on Thursday.
The committee is looking into the past business relationship between Schreiber and former prime minister Brian Mulroney, including cash payments Mulroney accepted from the German-Canadian businessman during the early 1990s.
Schreiber, who is fighting extradition to Germany to face fraud and other charges, says Mulroney did nothing to earn the $300,000 he paid him. Mulroney says he received $225,000 for acting as a lobbyist for a German arms company on behalf of Schreiber.
MacKay cancelled trip to Ottawa after fall
MacKay, the father of Defence Minister Peter MacKay and former Mulroney cabinet minister, was slated to appear but cancelled after taking a fall in Nova Scotia.
Ethics committee chair Paul Szabo told reporters Wednesday that Elmer MacKay's wife called the committee Tuesday evening to say her husband is unable to fly to Ottawa or travel to Halifax to appear by videoconference.
Committee members now hope to have MacKay testify on Feb. 25, the same day Schreiber is due to make another appearance.
Schreiber testified earlier that the elder MacKay urged him to write a letter to Mulroney to patch up their relationship so he could raise his extradition case with the prime minister.
MacKay was point man in Mulroney's cabinet for the proposed Bear Head project, an armoured-vehicle plant Schreiber hoped Thyssen would build in Cape Breton, N.S.
Two other witnesses are still slated to appear before the committee.
Schreiber's former accountant, Giorgio Pelossi, began testifying by teleconference on Thursday morning. Schreiber and the Swiss-based accountant had a falling out in 1991 and haven't worked together since.
Journalist and author Cameron, who has written books on Mulroney's dealings with Schreiber, was slated to appear in the afternoon, starting at 3:30 p.m. ET. (The appearance will be livestreamed on CBCNews.ca.)
One of Cameron's books, On The Take, offers her account of corruption during Mulroney's years as prime minister.