Quebec Premier Jean Charest responds to opposition questions on Friday at the Quebec legislature.Jacques Boissinot
Contradicting previous statements, Quebec Premier Jean Charest acknowledged yesterday that he did meet with controversial German-born businessman Karlheinz Schreiber in 1993 to discuss the Thyssen Bear Head project.
The meeting took place on Aug. 26, 1993, during Mr. Charest's short stint as minister of industry during the final months of former prime minister Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservative government. Also present at the meeting were former transport minister Jean Corbeil and Fred Doucet, Mr. Mulroney's former chief of staff who had become a lobbyist for the Thyssen Bear Head project.
"There was a meeting on Aug. 26 [1993]and that yes the ministry [of Industry]looked into the file and recommended not to follow up on Mr. Schreiber's request and the file was handed over to another ministry," Mr. Charest said in the National Assembly yesterday after being dogged by the Parti Québécois. "It is true that I had no recollection of it because I have hundreds of meetings."
Until recently, Mr. Charest denied ever meeting Mr. Schreiber.
In December, 2007, for instance, the Premier gave a different version of his relationship with the arms dealer. That's when Mr. Schreiber told a House of Commons committee that in 1993 he contributed $30,000 in cash to Mr. Charest's leadership campaign for the Progressive Conservative Party in Ottawa. He said he gave the money to Mr. Charest's brother Bob.
"I don't know Mr. Schreiber. I never intervened in any of his files .… Maybe we crossed paths but I don't remember," Mr. Charest told the National Assembly after admitting receiving what he claimed was $10,000 from Mr. Schreiber.
"My brother's recollection was that the amount was for $10,000, and I was not aware of that and nothing happened after that," he told reporters at the time, insisting that no law had been broken.
Mr. Schreiber has taken centre stage again after Mr. Mulroney admitted receiving at least $225,000 in cash in hotel rooms from Mr. Schreiber between 1993 and 1994. An inquiry headed by Mr. Justice Jeffrey Oliphant was created by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to examine all facets of the transactions and the business dealings behind them.
On March 9, Mr. Charest testified behind closed doors before the Oliphant commission lawyers. He repeated that he had no recollection of an Aug. 26, 1993, meeting or of a meeting with Mr. Corbeil about Thyssen Industries on July 29, 1993.
"I don't remember the July 29th meeting and again I have no reason to believe it did not happen. I'm not denying it happened. It's just that I don't have the recollection of it. And then the Aug. 26th meeting, I don't remember either, but they are obviously linked," Mr. Charest told the inquiry.
During his testimony at the inquiry, Mr. Schreiber acknowledged that the Aug. 26 meeting with Mr. Charest was all about getting government support for a project to build a vehicle to meet NATO's military requirements. And then the campaign contribution issue was raised by the commission's lead lawyer, Richard Wolson, who questioned Mr. Schreiber about a June 4, 1993, meeting he had with Bob Charest who wanted funding for his brother's campaign.
"First I thought I would give him also a donation in the neighbourhood of $50,000, but then I decided that $30,000 would do it," Mr. Schreiber said. When asked if the money was handed over in cash, Mr. Schreiber said yes. "Did you get a receipt?" Mr. Wolson asked. "No," Mr. Schreiber replied.
Mr. Charest has always refused to explain to the National Assembly why he accepted cash from Mr. Schreiber to finance his 1993 leadership campaign. The opposition also questioned the contradictions in Mr. Charest's explanations over the years as to his ties with Mr. Schreiber.
"Why two different versions: one here and the other at the Oliphant commission?" PQ House Leader Stéphane Bédard asked yesterday in the National Assembly.
Rhéal Séguin