The long-time spokesman who has resolutely defended Brian Mulroney throughout the controversy involving Karlheinz Schreiber says he can no longer speak for the former prime minister because he cannot devote the required time.
Luc Lavoie, the baritone-voiced former Mulroney communications director who has spoken on behalf of Mr. Mulroney since the latter retired from politics, said yesterday he gave up the duties about a week ago in full agreement with Mr. Mulroney.
“As this affair kept developing, it became very clear that I just could not dedicate the time to serve him well as I did in the 1990s,” Mr. Lavoie said in an interview. “As this became more and more demanding, I don't think he was well served.”
Mr. Lavoie is one of Mr. Mulroney's closest confidantes and anything he uttered was seen as having the imprimatur of the former prime minister. He said they remain very close.
“Mr. Mulroney is fighting for his integrity and the integrity of his family, and I'm fully sympathetic to what he's going through and I wish him the best, believe me, and I still consider him a dear friend and always will.”
Asked if he had ever felt personally uneasy about speaking on the Schreiber matter, Mr. Lavoie said he hadn't.
At one point in 1999, Mr. Lavoie said no money had ever changed hands between Mr. Schreiber and Mr. Mulroney. It was later revealed that Mr. Mulroney had received $300,000 from Mr. Schreiber.
Mr. Lavoie said his remarks at the time were with respect to the sale of Airbus planes to Air Canada.
“I was talking about Airbus,” he said. “No money changed hands. No money went to Brian Mulroney when it has to do with Airbus. I said that in 1999 and if I was still a spokesperson I would say the same thing. Now what happened after he left office is something else.”
Mr. Lavoie is currently an executive vice-president of Quebecor Inc.
He also told The Globe and Mail yesterday that his company acted within the rules last year when its chief executive officer, Pierre Karl Peladeau, met with the former industry minister Maxime Bernier to discuss issues involving opening up the wireless industry.
Earlier this week, the CBC reported that Mr. Mulroney, who sits on the Quebecor board, played a role in setting up a meeting between Mr. Peladeau and Mr. Bernier. The story prompted questions in the House of Commons yesterday from federal Liberals, amid news reports that Mr. Mulroney did not register as a lobbyist.
“It looks like Brian Mulroney was lobbying the government on a multibillion-dollar policy decision,” Liberal MP Dominic LeBlanc said in the House of Commons. “It also appears he was lobbying the government illegitimately.”
But Mr. Lavoie said Mr. Mulroney played no role in setting up two separate meetings between Mr. Peladeau and Mr. Bernier. Indeed, Mr. Lavoie said he personally set up one of the meetings and that the other was set up by another company official. He said he didn't know whether Mr. Mulroney had met with Mr. Bernier but, had there been such a meeting, it was unrelated to the Peladeau-Bernier meeting.
“The meetings were organized by company representatives who were duly recorded in the Lobby Registry, as were Mr. Peladeau and the individuals who accompanied him to these meetings,” said a statement released by the company.
Michael Nelson, Canada's registrar of lobbyists, would not confirm yesterday whether his office is reviewing the issue.
“We don't talk about what we've got under way, but the public can be confident that if something is brought to our attention, we look into it,” he said.
Mr. Bernier's office could not be reached for comment yesterday. A current spokesperson for Mr. Mulroney said the former prime minister had no comment.
Also yesterday, federal Defence Minister Peter MacKay said he had warned his father not to associate with Mr. Schreiber, saying that he was “leery” of the businessman who is now at the centre of a federal ethics committee hearing.
When pressed to explain why he felt uncomfortable with the friendship between Mr. Schreiber and his father, Elmer MacKay, he would only say: “I was leery. That's all.”
With a report from The Canadian Press
In Pictures:
