Schreiber Testifies Today

Karlheinz Schreiber is on the hill and you can bet that more than a few Conservatives are very, very nervous but Schreiber's lawyer, Eddie Greenspan, has said his client won't have anything to say:

He's been promised access to his documents to prepare his testimony. But no papers were seen to be sent from his home in Ottawa Wednesday night to the detention centre.

Schreiber's lawyer Edward Greenspan told the Toronto Star this week that his client "will not speak" at the committee Thursday because he's not going to get a chance to properly prepare.

"Now, if they [MPs] think by some grandstanding political play they can make political hay out of that, fine," Greenspan was quoted in Wednesday's Star. "But they must understand he will not speak."

"What are they going to do if he refuses? Put him in jail?"

But Szabo said unlike in a court of law, the committee hearing rules don't allow Schreiber to refuse to answer questions.

"I believe he will. I believe he'll be there and everything's going to go as you would expect. But should that happen, hypothetically, that would be a matter that the House may cite him for contempt of Parliament."

According to some pundits however, the CW seems to be that Schreiber will testify at least partially about what he and Mulroney were up to while saving the big story for the upcoming public inquiry - if he's allowed to stay in Canada until it's in progress.

Earlier this week, on CBC's Politics with Don Newman, one Conservative MP said that the inquiry could go ahead without Schreiber - as if his testimony was inconsequential and unnecessary. I'm sure the Cons would like nothing better than to see things happen that way, giving Mulroney the spotlight to obfuscate whatever the truth might be. What's obvious though is that this scandal will definitely come back to haunt the Cons if they're seen as protecting the former PM, as they've already tried to do - and so it should. The party that bills itself as tough on crime with the ultimate moral authority as far as taking responsibility goes has already shown once again that it has double standards when one of its own has allegedly been involved in corruption and illegal activities.

You can watch the ethics committee hearing live on CPAC beginning at 11 am ET. CBC and CTV will also be airing the proceedings. Whatever happens, it's sure to be interesting. Grab your popcorn.

Related:

The Globe & Mail has more, including video of Schreiber's arrival on the hill today along with some background information.

CBC's The Fifth Estate aired the original story that brought these allegations to light through its recent interview with Schreiber and provides a detailed history of the events.