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OTTAWA–Opposition parties say only a public inquiry will get to the bottom of whether former Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney was involved in the so-called Airbus affair. Their calls for an inquiry follow a newspaper report that Mulroney delayed paying taxes on $300,000 he received from the alleged architect of the affair, German Canadian businessman Karlheinz Schreiber, and then sought Schreiber’s assurance there was nothing to link him to the payments. Thibault said that while the relationship with Schreiber has been played down, "we now learn that not only did (Mulroney) know him, but Schreiber paid him $300,000 in cash, the first $100,000 of it when he was still a member of Parliament. Schreiber, 74, who is facing extradition to Germany on charges of bribery and tax evasion, was linked to the affair involving allegations in the mid-1990s of secret commission paid to members of the Mulroney government in exchange for Air Canada – then a crown corporation – purchasing the European-made jetliners. It wasn’t until 2002 that Mulroney indirectly acknowledged he did receive money from Schreiber, but as payment for his help in promoting Schreiber’s pasta business. In the lawsuit, Schreiber alleges he provided Mulroney with the money as an advance for his help in building a light-armoured vehicle plant in Quebec, as well as to promote and expand his restaurant and pasta business in Toronto. Find Out More

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