PM should have called Mulroney inquiry months ago: Dion

Offering a preview of the tough questioning the Conservatives will face Tuesday in the House, Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion said he wants to know why it took months for the prime minister to "wake up" before calling for a probe into allegations against Brian Mulroney.

In an interview with CBC News on Tuesday, Dion accused Prime Minister Stephen Harper's office of ignoring a letter the Conservatives apparently received back in March that outlined allegations that Mulroney, while still Tory leader and prime minister, struck financial deals with German-Canadian businessman Karlheinz Schreiber.

"Somebody around Mr. Harper, or Mr. Harper himself should have [been able to] wake up and should have requested a public inquiry. It should have been done months ago," Dion said from Ottawa.

An affidavit filed by Schreiber's legal team alleges that Mulroney met with Schreiber days before stepping down as prime minister in 1993, and that the pair reached an agreement for Mulroney to be paid $300,000 in a lobbying deal after he left public life.

The affidavit also alleges a Mulroney adviser asked Schreiber to transfer funds in connection with Air Canada's 1988 purchase of Airbus planes to a Mulroney lawyer based in Switzerland.

Mulroney calls for inquiry

Schreiber's allegation about the Airbus funds is similar to the accusations that sparked Mulroney's 1995 libel lawsuit against the federal government,and resulted in the former prime minister receiving an apology and a settlement of $2.1 million in 1997.

Mulroney has denied the accusations and on Monday called for a public inquiry to help clear his name.

CBC parliamentary assignment editor Tobias Fisher reported from Ottawa that the NDP was also copied on the same letter outlining Schreiber's version of events back in March.

But asked on Tuesday whether the Liberals received that note, Dion was clear: "No," he said. "What we received was a package from Mr. Schreiber a few days ago. We read it, we sent it to the RCMP right away, well before Mr. Harper's press conference Friday."

'Not something trivial'

Dion added that the Liberals would have plenty of questions for Justice Minister Rob Nicholson in what is expected to be an aggressive day in the House of Commons.

Dion said the Liberals would want to get to the bottom of whether Nicholson knew of the allegations, and if he did, when he found out about them.

"Canadians need to know. This is about a key part of our democratic institutions — the office of the prime minister. It's not something trivial," he said.

The latest revelations that some Conservatives apparently knew seven months ago about Schreiber's allegations are a godsend for the opposition, say political analysts in Ottawa.

Attacks from the Liberal party are expected to focus on trying to tie the formerTory prime minister's troublesto the current Harper government.

Test for Dion

CBC Ottawa correspondent Keith Boag said the potentially embarrassing point for Harper will be to explain why he never saw Schreiber's letter, given its significance, and who may have prevented that information from being forwarded to him.

In the hands of Dion, thecrucial bit of information willtesthis leadership and ability to use the opportunity to inflict damage on the Conservatives' accountability, Boag said.

Anotherquestion that is expected to be resolved in Parliament Tuesday is whether Harper willheed Mulroney'srequest for an immediate public inquiry, thereby skipping the preliminary step of appointing an independent analyst torecommend whether an inquiry should go ahead.

Commenting on Mulroney's unusual request foran inquiry into his own actions, Mulroney's former chief of staff Norman Spector called his ex-boss's manouevre abrilliant political move.

"Asking for a public inquiry, frankly, is a masterstroke on his part, at a time when he was running out of options and it was looking like he would finally have to answer these questions," Spector said Tuesday from Victoria, B.C.

As for what may have happened to a mailed package addressed to the prime minister from Schreiber's lawyers, Spector said he would not have been surprised if seven months ago, that letter went unnoticed.

"Why would some correspondence clerk in the Privy Council Office think that was a piece of correspondence the prime minister had to see?" he said.

Spector said a few news organizations including the CBCkept alive the issue of Mulroney's alleged financial deals. "If the Globe andMail and The Fifth Estate had not been pushingthis for the last four years, it would not be on the front of the agenda today," he said.

The Liberals are pursuing a full public inquiry that would cover events stretching back to the 1988 purchase of Airbus planes, until present day.

Taxpayers possibly owed

Dion said the recent revelations that Mulroney received $300,000 in cash from Schreiber in 1993 and 1994 callsfor a re-evaluation ofwhether the $2.1-million out-of-court settlement paid out by the government in 1997 should havehappened.

Mulroney had never mentioned the $300,000 deal in his testimony during the Airbus affair.

"It is legitimate for Justice Canada to look at if we may have the money back for Canadian taxpayers," Dion said Tuesday.

None of Schreiber's allegations have been proven in court. Schreiber is scheduled to be deported to Germany on Wednesday to face bribery and fraud charges.