Airbus Affair - Oliphant Commission Report

Oliphant Commission Report

In April and May 2009, the next episode ensued as the Oliphant Commission inquiry began. Chaired by Mr. Justice Jeffrey Oliphant, Associate Chief Justice of the Court of Queen's Bench of Manitoba, it was specifically mandated to focus on the dealings between Schreiber and Mulroney. While the inquisitors and their questions were different, the answers by Mr. Schreiber in April and Mr. Mulroney in May were essentially paraphrasings and expansions on those of the Ethics Committee proceedings. Notable new revelations in Mulroney's testimonies included his explanation for the delay in declaring the cash payments as income (he considered them as advances on future activities, to be declared only when drawn upon), and that his accountant, without his knowledge, had arranged to pay tax on only half the amount. This was in accordance with a Canada Revenue Agency amnesty incentive, now discontinued, that was intended to encourage delinquent taxpayers to submit late declarations, thus garnering funds which would otherwise have been lost or, at minimum, require costly legal action to be collected.

The Commission completed its hearings phase in the last week of July 2009. The following weekend Mr. Schreiber, after a last-ditch effort to find another means of avoiding extradition, was ordered to appear at the Toronto Detention Centre pending his return to Germany. Within three hours, he was escorted onto a Europe-bound aircraft by two RCMP officers, and designated "surrendered to Germany."

The Commission's report, released on May 31, 2010, included the following findings:

• That Mulroney entered into an agreement with Schreiber while Mulroney was a Member of Parliament, but not while still prime minister
• That Schreiber retained Mulroney to promote the sale of military vehicles in the international market (not within Canada), that three cash payments totaling at least CAD $225,000 were made by Schreiber to Mulroney in person, and that no services were ever provided by Mulroney for the monies paid
• That these business and financial dealings were inappropriate given Mr. Mulroney's position and that Mulroney repeatedly acted inappropriately in disclosure and reporting of the dealings and payments

The report intentionally avoids "expressing any conclusions ... regarding civil or criminal liability" based on the Commission's mandate and Oliphant wrote that he was "careful not to use language that would even hint at such a finding".