Mulroney arrives on Parliament Hill

Former prime minister Brian Mulroney has arrivedon Parliament Hill, where he is set to break his silence and unveil details about his controversial business relationship with German-Canadian businessman Karlheinz Schreiber.

Mulroney was greeted by crowd of friends and supportersin theSenate as heentered the foyer of the Centre Block for the first time in several years.

Mulroney also did not answer questions as he left Ottawa's Château Laurier Hotel with his wife and four children, instead offering the crowd of waiting reporters andcamerasa quiet chuckle.

The former prime minister will appear before the federal ethics committee to face questions about his dealings with Schreiber, notably the $300,000 in cash paymentsMulroney received from him in hotel rooms between 1993 and 1994.

He is expected to open the hearings with a 20-minute statement to the committee.Hisappearance is scheduled for four hours and he'll be accompanied by his wife Mila and their four children.

Mulroney has remained tight-lipped about the payments, which, according to Schreiber, came from a secret accountthe businessman had created in Zurich, under the codename BRITAN.There is no evidence Mulroney knew where the money was coming from.

But his former spokesman Luc Lavoie has told media that Mulroney admits that accepting payments was a "colossal mistake" and the "silliest thing" he has done in his life, but was not illegal.

Schreiber, who is suing Mulroney to recoup the money, has said the payments were intended to enlist his help to establish alight-armoured vehicle factory for Schreiber's client Thyssen.Schreiber alleged in an affidavit that the deal was struck two days before Mulroney left office.

Schreiber, who is out on bail while he fights extradition to Germany to face fraud and bribery charges,contends that Mulroney did not provide the services. The allegations haven't been proven in court.

Questions for Mulroney

MPs on the committee are expected to ask Mulroney why he accepted the money, what services he performed for the payments and what he did with the cash.

NDP ethics committee member Pat Martinalso hopes to askwhetherMulroney made any attempts to return the money or remedy the situation.

He says he expectsMulroney's testimonyto resemble something between "Jimmy Swaggart's type of contrition to Richard Nixon's style of 'I am not a crook.'"

But he adds: "No amount of bafflegab is going to take the stink off the optics of taking a bag full of cash in a secret hotel room meeting by a former prime minister of Canada."

The committee may not unearth all the answers, said Martin, but at least it will give Canadians a chance to hear all sides of the story.

Questions have also arisen over Mulroney's testimonyabout his relationship with Schreiber in the former prime minister's libel suit againstthe government over the so-called "Airbus affair" — in which millions of dollars in secret commissions were paid in respect to the sale of the jets to Air Canada.The lawsuitresulted in Mulroney receiving an apology and a settlement of $2.1 million in 1997.

But Mulroney never mentioned his cash arrangement with Schreiber during that 1996 testimony.

When asked if he maintained contact with Schreiber after he ceased being prime minister, Mulroney testified: "Well, from time to time, not very often. When he was going through Montreal, he would give me a call. We would have a cup of coffee, I think, once or twice."

But Mulroney had met with Schreiber three times in hotels to accept cash payments— twice in Montreal and once in New York.

Mulroney was also asked if he discussed with Schreiber whether it was true or not that Schreiber had been paid substantial sums from Airbus Industries.

"The fact that Mr. Schreiber may or may not have had any business dealings was not my principal preoccupation," Mulroney testified. "I had never had any dealings with him."

Schreiber makes claim

Schreiber has also claimed that Mulroney attempted to cover up the cash payments.

Schreiberalleged to the CBC's The Fifth Estatethat Mulroney wanted Schreiber toprovide a statement that the former prime minister at no time solicited or received compensation of any kind from the German businessman, Schreiber said.

Mulroney will also likely be questioned about his meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in the summer of 2006 at Harrington Lake— the official country retreat of the prime minister.

Schreiber said Mulroney had pledged he'd try to convince Harperto end Schreiber's extradition troubles. Following their meeting, Schreiber claims Mulroneysaidthe "message was very well received."

But Harper has said that Mulroney never raised the issue of Schreiber's extradition with him at their meeting.

Mulroney may also be askedabout Schreiber's claim that Fred Doucet, Mulroney's former chief of staff, asked Schreiber to transfer money into a Geneva account belonging to Mulroney's lawyer. Doucet has denied the allegation.

Schreiber's allegations against Mulroney spurred Harper to call a public inquiry into the affair.

Mulroney has said he welcomes the public inquiry to clear his name, insisting he has nothing to hide.