Ruling clears way for Mulroney-Schreiber inquiry to begin Monday

The head of the inquiry looking into business dealings between former prime minister Brian Mulroney and businessman Karlheinz Schreiber has clarified the terms of the probe, clearing the way for it to proceed.

Justice Jeffrey Oliphant ruled Thursday he intends to cast a wide legal net in assessing the business relations between Mulroney and Schreiber.

But the Manitoba judge said the inquiry, ordered by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, will steer clear of findings of criminal or civil liability.

Mulroney's lawyer, Guy Pratte, who had requested the clarification, said he is satisfied with the decision.

The ruling means the inquiry's first witnesses will begin testimony on Monday.

They include former Conservative cabinet minister Bill McKnight and former Liberal cabinet minister Marc Lalonde.

On Tuesday, Mulroney's former chief of staff Derek Burney and Beth Moores, the widow of former Newfoundland premier and Mulroney confidant Frank Moores, will testify.

David Johnston, an adviser to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, recommended last year the inquiry not rehash the 25-year history of dealings between the two men, but focus on the money Mulroney received from Schreiber, who is facing extradition for tax, bribery and fraud charges in Germany.

In testimony to a federal ethics committee in 2007, Mulroney said he received cash payments from Schreiber after he left office in June 1993. He said he was paid $225,000 in three instalments, and that the money was payment for his efforts as an international lobbyist on behalf of Thyssen, a German company.

He has acknowledged waiting until 1999 to pay tax on the money.

Schreiber has argued that the total was $300,000, and that the arrangement was reached while Mulroney was serving his last days as prime minister in 1993. Schreiber, who appeared before the ethics committee on four separate occasions, said Mulroney did nothing to earn the money.